The Game is On
by Team-Klaus
Summary: Just moving from Dartmoor, Maria Walkens never expected to meet someone like Sherlock Holmes when looking for her Uncle Greg in St. Barts. But when she does, her boring life of being Lestrade's niece is changed drastically what with the strings of murders made to look like suicides, and many other cases the Consulting Dectective, doctor and the assistant takes. Sherlock/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

The London air was cold as I got out of the cab that I had gotten down at Scotland Yard, where I had been waiting for my Uncle Greg for the last couple of hours. I had gotten tired of waiting for him and as I was leaving, I bumped into a woman that I did not like one bit, named Sally Donovan. She told me that I might be able to find him at the hospital, St. Barts. So here I was standing in front of the old tall building, hoping Sally wasn't just trying to get rid of me.

I walked inside of the hospital and over to a nurse. I asked her for directions to the morgue. Sally had told me, my Uncle had went there to do something. As instructed by the nurse I walked down a long white hallway, took a left and went down a set of stairs. I opened the door and froze seeing a man whipping a dead man's body with a riding crop. There was a woman standing close by him.

"So bad day was it?" She asked laughing lightly once the man stopped.

"I need to know what bruises form in the next 20 minutes. A man's alibi depends on it. Text me" The man writing something down.

"Listen, I was wondering. Maybe later, when you're finished..." The woman began nervously, but the man cut her off.

"You're wearing lipstick. You weren't wearing lipstick before" He said.

"I... I refreshed it a bit" She said nervously.

"Sorry you were saying?" He asked going back to writing something down.

"I was wondering if you'd like to have coffee" The woman told him.

"Black, two sugars, please. I'll be upstairs" He told her and walked past me.

The woman let out a sigh and turned around. She jumped seeing me standing there.

"Uh, hi. Is there something I can help you with?" The woman asked walking over to me.

"Yes, I was told I could find Greg Lestrade here" I told her.

"I'm sorry, but he isn't here" She told me and I nodded.

"Well thank you for your help, I'm Maria" I told her.

"Molly" She said, "Um, would you like to come with me to get some coffee? I hate going alone"

"Sure, why not" I said with a smile.

It wouldn't hurt to try and make some new friends here in London. Uncle Greg has been lecturing me a lot lately that I need to get of his flat and mingle with others. And I told him I would once I find a flat of my own! The man drove me mental sometimes, but I still loved him and was very grateful that he's been letting me stay with him for the past three weeks, since moving to London from Dartmoor.

Molly and I left the morgue and began to make our way to the cafeteria. As we walked I couldn't help, but wonder about that strange man. Who was he? Why was he beating that dead man with a riding crop?

"So, Maria how do you know Lestrade?" Molly asked casually as we walked up the stairs.

"He's my Uncle" I told her, "His sister is my Mother"

"Wow, I never knew Lestrade had a sister" She said surprised.

"So you know my Uncle?" I asked her and she nodded.

"A little. He comes down to the morgue sometimes to check the bodies of victims from some crimes" She said and I nodded.

We didn't speak much on the rest of the way. Just small talk nothing important. As we left the cafeteria, me with a small cup of coffee, and Molly with her own cup and the strange man's coffee, we made our way to the lab. It was nice hanging out with Molly.

"So who was that man earlier?" I asked Molly who was wiping her lipstick away.

"Oh, Sherlock? I'm surprise you don't know him" Molly said, "He helps your Uncle out sometimes on police cases"

Sherlock. What a strange and unique name. It kind of suited him.

"Is he a medical examiner?" I asked him and she shook her head.

"No, he's a consulting detective. Only one in the world" She said.

"Oh, that must be something" I said as we walked down a hallway.

Molly stopped in front of a door and took a deep breath.

"Here we are" She said and pushed the door opened.

I followed her inside of the lab and stood to the side. As I watched the three men in the room.

"Ah Molly. Coffee, thank you" Sherlock said as Molly walked over to him, "What happened to the lipstick?"

"It wasn't working for me" She told him.

"Really? I thought it was a big improvement" He told her, "Your mouth's too small now"

"Okay" Molly said and walked out of the room.

I was about to follow after her, but Sherlock stopped me.

"Um, would you mind staying? I have a something I need to ask you" He said and I blinked at him confused, but I stayed by the door.

"How do you feel about the violin?" Sherlock asked after setting his coffee down.

I looked at the two men who was in the room also, wondering which person he was speaking too.

"Sorry, what?" The man standing closer to me asked.

"I play the violin when I'm thinking" Sherlock said, "Sometimes I don't talk for days on end. Would that bother you two? Potential flatmates should know the worst about each other."

I looked at Sherlock then to the two men wondering if I had heard him correctly. Did he just say potential flatmates? He was surely talking to the two men, and not me. He didn't even know me!

"You told him about me?" The man asked the chubbier man.

"Not a word" He said.

"Then who said anything about flatmates?" He asked.

"I did. Told Mike this morning that I must be a difficult man to find a flatmate for. Now here he is just after lunch with an old friend clearly just home from military service in Afghanistan" Sherlock said putting his coat and scarf on, "Wasn't a difficult leap. Also I couldn't help notice that you miss are flat-less staying with either a relative or friend for the time being"

My eyes went wide at hearing him say that. How could he possible know that?

"How did you know about Afghanistan?" The man asked him, before I could ask him.

"Got an eye on a nice little place in Central London. Together we ought to be able to afford it. We'll meet there tomorrow evening, 7:00" Sherlock said, "Sorry, got to dash. I think I left my riding crop in the mortuary"

"Is that it?" The man asked.

"Is that what?" Sherlock asked turning to him.

"We've only just met and we're going to go and look at a flat?" The man asked and I nodded my head walking over to them.

"I agree" I said.

"Problem?" Sherlock asked.

"We don't know a thing about each other. I don't know where we're meeting, I don't even know your name" The man told him.

"I know you're an army doctor and you're been invalided home from Afghanistan. I know you got a brother who's worried about you, but you won't go to him for help because you don't approve of him, possibly because he's an alcoholic, more likely because he recently walked out on his wife. And I know that your therapist thinks your limp's psychosomatic quite correctly, I'm afraid. That's enough to be going on with don't you think?" He asked and looked at me.

"And you. You're an only child coming from a small family from a small village. But something happened recently to make you move. Your Mother died. Most likely from an accident or illness" He said making me bite my bottom lip and looking down at the ground, "You recently moved to London, and like I said earlier you don't have anywhere to stay except for a relative or friend. Most likely a relative, because you're new to London and wouldn't have any friends here. You're jobless too, so that would put a delay in searching for a flat. So you're looking for a job, most likely with the police, because you were looking for Lestrade. You were going to ask him for a job"

"Amazing, you are correct, except for a few things" I told him.

"Oh? What did I get wrong?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wasn't looking for Lestrade to ask him for a job. I was looking for him, because I was wanting to see if he wanted me to pick anything up for dinner, because his wife is sick with the flu? You're right about me living with a relative, which is Lestrade, he's my Uncle" I told him.

"Never knew Lestrade had a niece" Sherlock said.

"No one seems to know" I said shaking my head.

"Well I best be going" Sherlock said and headed for the door.

He walked out, but only to pop back in.

"The name's Sherlock Holmes and the address is 221B Baker Street. Afternoon" He said and left.

"Is he always like that?" I asked and looked to the other man.

"Yeah, he's always like that" He said to both of us.

"What a strange man" I said and looked at the man with the can, "What's your name?"

"Uh, John Watson, and you?" He asked.

"Maria Walkens" I told him and smiled, "Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, John"

I began to head for the door and stopped when John called out to me.

"You're actually going tomorrow?" He asked me and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why not?" I said and walked out of the door.

As I was heading to the main lobby of the hospital my phone rung.

"Where are you?" Uncle Greg asked.

"I'm at St. Barts. I was told I could find you here, but I guess I was lied too" I told him.

"Well get home. Dinner is getting cold" He said and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, sorry. I'll be home soon" I told him and hung up.

I walked out of the hospital and got a taxi. On my way to Uncle Greg's I couldn't get my mind off about tomorrow. I was excited, nervous and scared. What if Sherlock was some type of psychopath stalker? How could he possibly know all of that about me and John?

Yes I was an only child with my Mum and Dad. I lived in a small village close to the moors, with a monster living close by. It's what had killed my Mum. I couldn't stay there any longer, the memories were to awful. I shivered at the image of the big, black, red eyed, hound that had chased after us during a hike through the woods.

"So anything exciting today?" Aunt Helena asked me while I ate some cold Chinese take out.

"Well I might had found a flat and some flatmates" I told her, "I'm checking the flat out tomorrow at seven with them"

"Sounds exciting" She said smiling.

"You have no idea" I told her and she didn't have any idea how exciting my life was going to be after moving into 221B Baker street with Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

The next day at seven, I was waiting at the door of 221B Baker street for both John and Sherlock to show up. I liked the fact that it was next to a sandwich shop and across the street was a nice little cafe.

"Hello, John" I greeted with a smile as John walked up to the door.

"Hello, Maria" John said as he knocked on the black door.

"Hello" Sherlock said getting out of a cab.

"Ah, Mr. Holmes" John said turning to Sherlock.

"Sherlock, please" He said shaking John's hand and looked at me, "I forgot to ask you your name"

"Maria Walkens" I told him.

"This is a prime spot, must be expensive" John said and I nodded looking up at the building.

"Mrs. Hudson, the landlady, she's giving me a special deal. Owes me a favor" He told us, "A few years back her husband got himself sentenced to death in Florida. I was able to help out"

"So you stopped her husband being executed?" John asked as my phone dinged.

"Oh, no, I ensured it" He said and I nearly dropped the device.

_Where are you?_

GL

_I'm looking at a flat._

_MW_

I looked up to see Sherlock hugging an old woman. I put away my phone and smiled at the old woman who must have been Mrs. Hudson, the landlady. She seemed like a nice sweet old woman, who kind of reminded me of my Grandmother who had passed away when I was younger.

"Mrs. Hudson, Dr. John Watson" Sherlock said.

"Hello. Come in!" She told John excitedly.

"Thank you" John said walking into the building.

"Mrs. Hudson, this is Maria Walkens" Sherlock said and Mrs. Hudson gave me a hug before ushering me inside.

I followed Sherlock up the stairs with John limping behind me. When we got to the top, Sherlock opened the door and walked in. I followed in after him and looked around. There was boxes inside already, indicating Sherlock had already decided to move in. Now it was just up to John and I if we wanted to or not. The place was nice and wonderful! I wouldn't have a problem moving in at all.

"This place is great" I commented as I walked towards the kitchen.

"Well, this could be very nice" John said as he limped over towards the kitchen.

I moved out of the way slightly, so he could get a better view.

"Very nice indeed" He continued.

"Yes. Yes, I think so" Sherlock said, "My thoughts precisely"

"Soon as we get all this rubbish cleaned out" John said the same time as Sherlock said, "So I went straight ahead and moved in. Oh"

I smiled and shook my head. I could tell it was going to be wonderful living here with the two.

"So this is all..." John began as Sherlock walked quickly over to some of his things moving some of it.

"Well, obviously I can straighten things up a bit" He said stabbing something on the fireplace mantel.

That's when I noticed the human skull.

"That's a skull" John said.

"Friend of mine" He said.

I walked over to it and picked it up. It couldn't possibly be real. Could it?

"It's not real is it?" I asked as I turned it around.

"Yes it is" He said and I placed it back on the mantel quickly wiping my hands on the back of a chair.

"What do you think then, Dr. Watson, Maria?" Mrs. Hudson asked walking into the room.

"It's wonderful" I told her

"That's great" She told me, "There's two more bedrooms upstairs. If you'd be needing three bedrooms"

She gave me a look and I blushed shaking my head.

"Of course we'll be needing three bedrooms, unless Sherlock and Maria are..." He didn't finished when he saw me shaking my head.

"Oh, don't worry, there's all sorts round here. Mrs. Turner next door's _got married ones_" She said to John and I laughed at her thinking Sherlock and John were together.

"Oh, Sherlock, the mess you've made" Mrs. Hudson said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Let me help you clean up a bit, Mrs. Hudson" I said following her into the kitchen.

"Thank you, deary" She said as I began to clean up a bit.

"It's least I can do. You're letting us rent this place" I told her as I stacked a box on top of another box so no one could trip over it.

I then saw a newspaper laying on the counter saying something about three suicides. I frowned as I read about it. Uncle Greg hadn't mention anything about them. He probably didn't want me to worry about it. No wonder he's been asking where I'm at lately. That old worry wart.

"What's that?" Mrs. Hudson asked me.

"News paper, about some suicides" I told her holding the paper out to her.

She took it from me and walked out of the room looking at it.

"What about these suicides, then, Sherlock?" She asked him as I followed her out of the kitchen, "I thought that'd be right up your street. Three exactly the same"

"Four" Sherlock said walking over to a window, "There's been a fourth and there's something different this time"

"A fourth?" Mrs. Hudson asked and I looked over at the door hearing footsteps.

"Where?" Sherlock asked Uncle Greg who had walked into the flat.

"Uncle Greg?" I said confused to see him here.

"Brixton. Lauriston Gardens" He said then looked over at me for a second with a look of surprise on his face before turning back to Sherlock.

"What's new about this one? You wouldn't have come to get me if there wasn't something different" He said looking over at Uncle Greg.

"You know how they never leave notes?" He asked.

"Yeah" Sherlock answered.

"This one did" He said, "Will you come?"

"Who's on forensics?" Sherlock asked.

"Anderson" Uncle Greg said.

"Anderson won't work with me" Sherlock said.

"Well, he won't be your assistant" Uncle Greg said.

"I need an assistant" Sherlock said looking at Uncle Greg.

"I can be your assistant" I said raising my hand up.

"Absolutely not" Uncle Greg said looking at me, "I promised your Dad I'd keep you safe"

"You can't keep treating me like I'm some kid, Uncle Greg" I told him.

"We're not having this argument" He told me and looked at Sherlock, "Will you come?"

"Not in a police car. I'll be right behind you" He told him.

"Thank you" Uncle Greg told him and looked at me, "I'm guessing this is where you're going to be living at now?"

"Yes, I'll come by later to get my things" I told him and he nodded.

"Uh, don't forget. Wednesday night, family night" He said and I nodded.

With that all done, Uncle Greg left the flat.

"Brilliant!" Sherlock said excitedly jumping up into the air, "Yes! Four serial suicides, and now a note. Oh, it's Christmas!"

I frowned.

"You know people died right?" I said hoping he understood that being happy about something where people died isn't really good.

"I know" He said and grabbed his coat, "Mrs. Hudson, Maria and I will be late. Might need some food"  
"I'm your landlady, dear, not your housekeeper" She told him as he walked into the kitchen.

"Something cold will do" He told her, "John, have a cup of tea, make yourself at home. Don't wait up"

I quickly grabbed my coat and followed after Sherlock.

"I'm actually going to be your assistant?" I asked him.

"You did volunteer" He said and then stopped.

He walked back up the stairs and I followed after him.

"You're a doctor" Sherlock said told John, "In fact, you're an army doctor"

"Yes" John said standing up from his seat.

"Any good?" Sherlock asked.

"Very good" He told him.

"Seen a lot of injuries, then? Violent deaths?" Sherlock asked walking over to him.

"Yes" John answered.

"Bit of troubled too, I bet?" He asked.

"Of course, yes. Enough for a lifetime, far too much" John told him.

"Want to see more?" Sherlock asked him

"Oh God, yes" John said staring at Sherlock.

I followed the two down the stairs.

"Sorry, Mrs. Hudson, I'll skip the tea. Off out" John apologized.

"All three of you?" She asked as Sherlock walked towards the door.

He turned around walking towards Mrs. Hudson.

"Impossible suicides, four of them. There's no point sitting at home when there's finally something fun going on!" Sherlock said and kissed Mrs. Hudson cheek.

"Look at you, all happy" She said looking up at Sherlock, "It's not decent"

"Who cares about decent? The game, Mrs. Hudson, is on!" Sherlock said walking out of the building.

I hugged Mrs. Hudson good-bye, before walking out of the building. I stood next to Sherlock and John waiting for a taxi. I got in between John and Sherlock as the cab drove off to the place that Sherlock told him. I got out my phone and saw that I had one missed called. It was from my Father.

I made a mental note to call him later once I get back to the flat. As we rode the cab in silent I couldn't help, but notice John looking over at Sherlock.

"Okay, you've got questions?" Sherlock said after noticing John also.

"Yeah, where are we going?" John asked him.

"Crime scene" Sherlock told him.

Where else would we go? The market? He mustn't have paid much attention to the conversations that were going on at the flat.

"Next?" Sherlock said.

"Who are you? What do you do?" John asked him.

"What do you think?" Sherlock asked him.

"I'd say private detective" John said.

"But?" Sherlock said.

"But the police don't go to private detectives" John said.

"I'm a consulting detective, only one in the world. I invented the job" He told John.

"What does that mean?" John asked.

I was curious about that too.

"Means when the police are out of their depth, which is always, they consult me" Sherlock said.

"Why don't you become a police officer then? You'd get paid better than being a consulting detective" I told him.

Sherlock looked down at me.

"It'd be boring, plus I'd have to see Anderson's face all the time" Sherlock said and made a face.

Anderson. I thought back to where I had heard that name. Wasn't he the man with the long nose and resembled a rat? I don't blame Sherlock for not becoming a police officer then.

"The police don't consult amateurs" John said continuing his conversation.

"When I met you for the first time yesterday, I said Afghanistan or Iraq, you looked surprised" Sherlock said.

"Yes, how did you know?" John asked him.

"I didn't know, I saw" Sherlock told him, "Your haircut, the way you hold yourself said military. And your conversation as you entered the room said trained at Barts, so army doctor, obvious. Your face is tanned, but no tan above the wrists. You've been abroad, but not sunbathing. Your limp's really bad when you walk, but you don't ask for a chair when you stand like you've forgotten about it, so it's at least partly psychosomatic. That says the original circumstances of the injury were traumatic, wounded in action, then. Wounded in action, suntan. Afghanistan or Iraq"

"You said I had a therapist" John said.

"You've got a psychosomatic limp. Of course you have a therapist. Then there's your brother. Your phone. Hmm? It's expensive, e-mail enabled, mp3 player" He began and told us everything about John's brother being a drunk, being married, to getting a divorce. Also that John had family trouble with his brother, but they still wanted to stay in touch.

"You were right" Sherlock said.

"I was right? Right about what?" John asked him.

"The police don't consult amuters" He told John.

"That was amazing" John said saying the words that was going through my mind.

"Do you think so?" Sherlock asked.

"I do" I told him.

"Yes, of course it was. Extraordinary, it was quite extraordinary" John told him.

"That's not what people normally say" Sherlock said.

"Then what do they say?" I asked him curiously.

"Piss off" He said and I giggled.

"So how can you do all of that? Tell someone life story as if it was you were the author?" I asked him.

"I simply observe" He said, "Like the way you're dressed. Obvious sign that you're an only child. Your parents spent money on only you, so you didn't have hand me downs, unless your family was poor. Which they were, until your father got a job at the local hospital as a doctor"

"How did you know that about my Father?" I asked him.

"I saw when you pulled out your phone it said Dr. Mark Walkens. Most likely your Father, since your last names are the same. You don't have many cousins, because of Lestrade being your only Uncle and he has no children yet" Sherlock said, "Now as for knowing about your Mother, I noticed you had a wedding on your right hand. Obviously your not married, or it would be on your left hand. It's old about thirty some years, hardly was taken off. So their marriage was strong Your Mother would never part with it unless she was dead. I also noticed that you sometimes un-aware touch the ring and twist it a bit. Most likely thinking about your Mother. Like you are now"

I looked down at my hands and noticed I was touching the ring. I pulled away and blushed looking at Sherlock.

"Okay, how could you tell I was staying with someone then?" I asked him.

"The way you stood isn't straight due to a sore back from sleeping on a couch. Which means you're staying with someone until you were able to find a flat of your own to stay in" He said.

"Not bad at all, Sherlock, not bad at all" I told him smiling.

"Yes, well here we are" Sherlock said as the cab stopped.

We got out and began to walk towards the crime scene.

"Did I get anything wrong?" Sherlock asked John and I as we walked.

"You did yesterday, but today you didn't" I told him.

"Harry and me don't get on, never have. Clara and Harry split up three months ago. They're getting a divorce. Harry is a drinker" John said.

"Spot on, then. I didn't expect to be right about everything" Sherlock said.

"Harry is short for Harriet" John said and Sherlock stopped for a second.

So Harry wasn't John's brother, but his sister. Well it seems that Sherlock can be wrong.

"Harry's your sister" He said looking at John.

"Look, what exactly am I supposed to be doing here?" John asked him.

"Me too?" I asked him.

I didn't have any medical skills like John or could do what ever you could call the thing Sherlock does. I could clean, cook, write, do laundry and be clumsy. That was about it.

"Sister!" Sherlock said as if he hadn't heard us.

"No, seriously, what am I doing here?" John asked him as we began to walk again.

"There's always something" Sherlock said and I let out a groan seeing Sally.

"Hello, freak!" She said told Sherlock.

"I'm here to see Detective Inspector Lestrade" Sherlock told her.

"Why?" She asked.

"I was invited" He said.

"It doesn't count if you're invited by his niece" She said.

"I wasn't invited by his niece. She's my assistant. Lestrade came to my flat and invited us here" Sherlock said.

"Why?" Sally asked.

"I think he wants me to take a look" He told her.

"Well, you know what I think, don't you?" She said.

"Always, Sally" Sherlock said raising the tape up and walking under it.

He kept it for me and dropped it once I had gone under it. He then sniffed the air. I caught the light scent of men's deodorant. I didn't know if it came from Sally or Sherlock.

"Even know you didn't make it home last night" He said looking at her.

"Uh, who's this?" Sally asked as John tried to get under the tape.

"Colleague of mine Dr. Watson" Sherlock told her, "Dr. Watson, Sergeant Sally Donovan. Old friend"

"A colleague? How do you get a colleague and an assistant?" She asked him, "What, did he follow either of you home?"

"Actually I live with him now" I told her.

She looked at me and then at Sherlock. Clearly thinking of the worst. People these days always having their minds in the gutters.

"Would it be better if I just waited?" John asked.

"No" Sherlock said raising the tape up for John to walk under.

"Freak's here. Bringing him in" Sally said and we followed her to the building.

"Ah, Anderson" Sherlock said seeing the rat like man walking out of the building, "Here we are again"

"It's a crime scene. I don't want it contaminated. Are we clear on that?" Anderson told him.

"Quite clear" Sherlock told him, "And is your wife away for long?"

"Oh, don't pretend you worked that out. She probably told you. Little sneak" Anderson said glaring at me.

"Your deodorant to me that" Sherlock told him.

"My deodorant?" Anderson asked him confused.

"It's for men" Sherlock to him.

"Well, of course it's for men. I'm wearing it" Anderson told him.

"So's Sergeant Donovan" Sherlock said and I looked at her trying to hold in a laugh.

"Ooh, I think it just vaporized. May I go in?" Sherlock asked.

"Now, look, whatever you're trying to imply..." Anderson began, but Sherlock cut him.

"I'm not implying anything" He said walking around Anderson, "I'm sure Sally came around for a nice little chat and just happened to stay over. And I assume she scrubbed your floors, going by the state of her knees"

I laughed as I followed Sherlock into the building.

"Oh, that was bloody brilliant!" I told him, "The look on their faces, priceless!"

"It would seem so" He said with the corner of his lips twitching upwards a bit, "You and John should wear one of these"

He pointed to a blue suit and white booties where Uncle Greg was putting one on. I shook my head.

"Yeah, I don't want to look like a smurf" I told him, "Plus aren't you going to wear one?"

"Who's this?" Uncle Greg asked Sherlock looking at John putting one of the suits on.

"He's with me" Sherlock told him.

"But who is he? And why is she here? I told her she couldn't come here" Uncle Greg said.

"But she's my assistant and I said he's with me" Sherlock told him.

"He's the boss, Uncle Greg" I told him and he frowned.

"Aren't you going to put one on?" John asked Sherlock about the suit.

"So where are we?" Sherlock asked Uncle Greg.

"Upstairs" Uncle Greg told him.

Sherlock nodded, grabbed a pair of gloves handed them to me and then got his own. We waited a for a minute and a half for John and Uncle Greg to get their suits.

"I can give you two minutes" Uncle Greg told Sherlock as we began to walk up the stairs.

"May need longer" Sherlock told him.

"Her name is Jennifer Wilson, according to her credit cards. We're running them now for contact details. Hasn't been here long. Some kids found her" Uncle Greg told us.

Getting to the top floor. I paused and took a deep breath. I hadn't really seen a dead body, unless it was at a funeral, on TV, or my Mother's when... I shouldn't be thinking of that right now. This is more important. This is the present, that was in the past.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

I walked into the room and let out a breath seeing the woman in pink laying lifeless on the ground. I couldn't see her face, because she was facing the floor. What a poor way to die. All alone in an abandon building faced down.

"Shut up" Sherlock said all of a sudden.

No one had said anything.

"I didn't say anything" Uncle Greg told him.

"You were thinking it's annoying" Sherlock told him and walked over to the woman.

He stood over the body for a few seconds and then bent down. He stared at her, occasionally running his hand along her coat and looking at his fingers. He then looked at her wedding ring.

"Got anything?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"Not much" Sherlock told him taking his gloves off.

I looked at the door feeling like someone was there to see Anderson with his arms crossed leaning against the door. That creep.

"She's German" he said, "_Rache. _German for Revenge. She could be trying to tell us something"

"Yes, thank you for your input" Sherlock said walking over to the door and shutting it in his face.

"So she's German?" Uncle Greg said.

"I doubt it" I muttered, knowing that you really couldn't take Anderson's word on anything. He was an idiot after all.

"Of course she's not. She's from out of town, though. Intended to stay in London for one night before returning home to Cardiff. So far, so obvious" He said looking at his phone.

"Sorry, obvious?" John asked looking at Sherlock.

What did he mean by obvious? Don't tell me he's the killer and was just trying to frame some old man?

"Dr. Watson, what do you think?" Sherlock asked John ignoring Uncle Greg.

"Of the message?" John asked him.

"Of the body. You're a medical man" Sherlock told him.

"Well, no, we have a whole team right outside" Uncle Greg told him.

"They won't work with me" Sherlock told him.

"I'm breaking every rule letting you in here" Uncle Greg said.

"Yes, because you need me" Sherlock said.

"Yes, I do" Uncle Greg said, "God help me"

"Dr. Watson" Sherlock said looking at John.

"Oh, do as he says, help yourself" Uncle Greg said and began to walk towards the door, "Um, Maria could I have a word?"

"Um, aren't I needed here?" I asked.

"Now" Uncle Greg said and I let out a sigh following him out of the room.

"Are you crazy?" Uncle Greg asked me as we stood outside the door, "You can't possibly be moving in with him"

"I'm not crazy and yes I'm moving in with him and John" I told him, "I know what I'm doing, Uncle Greg, just trust me"

"I do trust you, Maria, but it's him I don't trust" Uncle Greg said, "He only thinks of himself. What if, God forbid, you get hurt chasing after him one day?"

"I have John to help me" I told him and he let out a sigh, before walking back into the room.

"Yeah" John said getting up from the floor after checking the woman, "Asphyxlation, probably. Passed out, choked on her own vomit. Can't smell any alcohol on her. Could have been a seizure, possibly drugs"

"You know what it was, you've read the papers" Sherlock told him.

"Well, she's one of the suicides, the fourth" John said.

"Sherlock, two minutes, I said. I need anything you got" Uncle Greg said.

"Victim is in her late 30s. Professional person, going by her clothes. I'm guessing something in the media, going by the frankly alarming shade of pink. Traveled from Cardiff today, intending to stay in London for one night" Sherlock said and walked out of the room with Uncle Greg and I following after him, "That's obvious from the size of her suitcase"

"Suitcase?" Uncle Greg asked.

I looked back into the room to see nothing that resembled a suitcase. There was none.

"Suitcase, yes" Sherlock said turning to Uncle Greg, "She's been married for at least ten years, but not happily. She had a string of lovers, but none of them knew she was married"

"Oh, for God's sake, if you're just making this up" Uncle Greg began.

"Her wedding ring, ten years old at least. The rest of her jewelry has been regularly cleaned, but not her wedding ring. State of her marriage, right there. The inside of the ring is shinier than the outside. That means it's regularly removed. The only polishing it gets is when she works it off her finger. It's not for work: look at her nails" He said and I glanced her them, "She doesn't work with her hands, so what, or rather who, does she remove her rings for? Clearly not one lover. She'd never sustain the fiction of being single over that amount of time, so more likely a string of them, simple"

"It's brilliant" John said and we all looked at him.

"Sorry" John apologized.

"Cardiff?" Uncle Greg asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Sherlock asked him.

"It's not obvious to me" John said as we looked at Sherlock confused.

"Dear God, what is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring" Sherlock said, "Her coat it's slightly damp. She's been in heavy rain in the last few hours. Norain anywhere in London in that time. Under her coat collar is damp, too. She's turned it up against the wind. She's got an umbrella in her left-hand pocket, but it's dry and unused. Not just wind, strong wind, too strong to use her umbrella. We know from her suitcase that she was intending to stay overnight so she must have come a decent distance but she can't have traveled more than two or three hours because her coat still hasn't dried. So, where has there been heavy ran and strong wind within the radius of that travel time? Cardiff"

"It's fantastic" John said and I agreed with him.

"Amazing" I said.

I have never met anyone like Sherlock before. It simply amazed me that he got all of that by just looking at her for two minutes! Like John had said it was fantastic.

"Do you know you do that out loud?" Sherlock told John and I quietly.

"Sorry, I'll shut up" John said, while I said, "I'll just think it silently then"

"No, it's fine" Sherlock said.

"Why do you keep saying suitcase?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"Yes, where is it?" Sherlock asked spinning around looking for the thing, "She must have had a phone or an organizer. Find out who Rachel is"

"She was writing "Rachel"?" Uncle Greg asked.

"No, she was leaving an angry note in German! Of course she was writing "Rachel." No other word it can be

"She must had went unconscious or died before she could crave the L" I told him and walked over to the woman.

"Question is, why did she wait until she was dying to write it?" Sherlock asked.

I bent down and looked at the carving.

"There could have been a killer and the killer might had left while she was still alive, so she carved this leaving us a clue or something" I said and looked at her nails wondering why she had done it.

"So how do you know she had a suitcase?" Uncle Greg asked.

I looked up at Sherlock wondering how he knew?

"Back of her right leg, tiny splash marks on the heel and calf not present on the left. She was dragging a wheeled suitcase behind her with her right hand. Don't get that splash pattern any other way. Smallish case, going by the spread. Case that size, woman this clothes-conscious, it could only be an overnight bag, so we know she was staying one night. Now where is it, what have you done with it?" Sherlock asked bending down next to me examining the splash mark on her ankles.

"There wasn't a case" Uncle Greg said and we looked at him.

I stood up and took the gloves off of my hands.

"Say that again" Sherlock told him.

"There wasn't a case. There was never any suitcase" Uncle Greg said and Sherlock stood up quickly pushing past John and Uncle Greg shouting something about the suitcase.

"Sher, there's no case!" Uncle Greg said walking out of the room.

I followed after him.

"They take the poison themselves" Sherlock said, "They chew, swallow the pills themselves. There are clear signs. Even you lot couldn't miss them"

I followed after him the stairs quickly.

"Right, yeah, thanks. And?" Uncle Greg said.

"It's murder, all of them" Sherlock said looking up at Uncle Greg, "I don't know how. They're not suicides, they're killings, serial killings. We've got ourselves a serial killer. Love those"

And he was off again.

"There's always something to look forward to" Sherlock said.

"Why are you saying that?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Her case! Come on, where is her case? Did she eat it?" Sherlock asked.

"Someone else was here then. The killer and he took her case when the job was done" I told them.

"She's got it, why can't you all get it?" Sherlock said looking up at them.

"So, the killer must have driven her here? Forgot about the case in the car" I said looking at Sherlock.

"She could have checked into a hotel, left her case there?" John said.

"Oh, you are brilliant, Maria!" Sherlock said grinning down at me and then looked up at John "No, she never got to the hotel. Look at her hair. She color coordinates her lipstick and her shoes. She'd never have left any hotel with her hair still looking"

And he paused. I looked at him worriedly, hoping he hadn't gone mental with all that thinking.

"Oh!" He said clapping his hands together.

"Sherlock? What is it, what?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Serial killers, always hard. You have to wait for them to make a mistake" Sherlock said looking around.

"We can't just wait!" Uncle Greg shouted at him.

"Oh, we're done waiting!" Sherlock told him, "Look at her, really look. Houston, we have a mistake. Get onto Cardiff. Find out who Jennifer Wilson's family and friends were. Find Rachel"

"Of course, yeah, but what mistake?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"Pink!" Sherlock shouted and rushed towards the door.

"If she get's hurt, I'll have your head, Sherlock!" I heard Uncle Greg shout as we ran from the building.

"So where are off to now?" I asked him.

"To find the case!" He told him.

"Where at?" I asked him as he ran down an alley.

"Around" He said and jumped over a fence.

I climbed onto a box that was against the fence and jumped over it. I landed on my feet and followed Sherlock as he ran through every back street. He stopped for a second looking around and began to climb a ladder.

"I'm guessing you're getting an aerial view of the surrounding places" I told him as he looked around.

"Yes" He said, "Please be quiet. I need to concentrate"

I bit my bottom lip and looked around. Maybe I could see something he couldn't. I looked around, seeing if I could find anything, but it was hard to see, because there was hardly any lights. I let out a sigh and kept looking. We stood on top of that building for about ten minutes, until Sherlock shouted out there and climbed down the building.

I climbed down the ladder and only a few feet from the ground my foot slipped. I fell backwards with a scream frozen in my throat. I closed my eyes waiting for the ground to catch me, but it never did. I opened my eyes to see Sherlock had caught me. He put me down.

"Thank you" I told him blushing from embarrassment.

"Right, let's go" Sherlock said and began to run off.

I let out a sigh and shook my head with a small smile. That man was something. I ran after Sherlock, and when I had caught up to him, he was digging through a trash bin.

"Is the case in there?" I asked him as he threw a tarp.

"Maybe" He said, "Aha! Here it is!"

Sherlock pulled out a small pink suitcase. He handed it to me and jumped out of the bin. I covered my nose.

"You're getting a bath when we get back to the flat" I told him and he just rolled his eyes as we headed to the main road.

"Taxi!" Sherlock shouted and a cab stopped a few seconds later.

"So, how did you know the case was going to be there?" I asked Sherlock as we road the cab back to the flat.

"The killer must have driven her to Lauriston Gardens. He could only keep her case by accident if it was in the car. Nobody could be seen with this case without drawing attention to themselves, particularly a man, which is statistically more likely. So obviously he'd feel compelled to get rid of it the moment he noticed he still had it. Wouldn't have taken him more than five minutes to realize his mistake" He said and I understood now.

"So that's why we were running round every back street that was wide enough for a car. The killer drove through the back street, got out, tossed the suitcase into the bin like it was garbage, got back into his car and drove away like he hadn't killed a woman five minutes earlier" I told him, "It's bloody brilliant that you know all of that, without being the killer himself. You're not are you?"

"No I'm not" He said, "And I'm surprised you figured all of that out. Most people wouldn't"

"Well I'm not like most people" I told him.

"No, you're not, because most women wouldn't volunteer to be someone's assistant when just meeting him, and then follow him as he runs around looking for a pink suitcase" He said.

"Well, it seemed better than staying in the flat all day" I told him.

"Yes it does" He said.

The rest of the ride to flat was in silence. Neither of us said a word. Once at the flat I had to force Sherlock to take a shower before searching the suitcase. He stunk to bad and I didn't want any of the furniture to get filthy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

While Sherlock was in the shower, I walked upstairs and looked at both of the bedrooms, before deciding which one I wanted. When I was finished with that little task, I wrote a note for Sherlock telling him I left to go get my things from my Uncle's and if he needed anything to text my phone.

The ride to my Uncle's was quiet. While in the cab, I had gotten a text from Sherlock.

Come at once

if convenient.

SH

I got out of the cab and walked into the building. Sherlock could wait for a few minutes. I opened the door to see my Aunt wrapped up in a thick blanket watching crap telly.

"Oh, you're back!" She said smiling.

"Yeah, I just need to grab some of my things. I moved into 221B Baker street. I'm sure Uncle Greg will fill you in on the rest" I told her and grabbed one of my suitcases.

I walked into the laundry room and got my clothes that had been cleaned. I then grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with my dirty clothes that hadn't been washed yet. I could wash those once I get back to the flat. I put my clothes into suitcase. I walked into the bathroom and grabbed my things.

"So you took the flat" Aunt Helena said from the living room.

"Yes, it's a great place" I told her, "The landlady is a wonderful sweet old woman"

My phone went off once again.

If inconvenient,

come anyway.

SH

"That sounds good. Have you seen Greg today?" Aunt Helena said.

"Yes, there's been another suicide, so he'll be home late. I'm Sorry, I'm in a rush, but one of my flat mates needs me for something. I'll see you Wednesday night"

"Okay, be careful and congratulation on finding a flat" She said.

I left the flat and got into the cab, after putting my suit case away. I looked out the window as the cab drove away. During the ride my phone went off again with another text from Sherlock. I let out a sigh and read it.

Could be dangerous.

SH

What did he get himself into now? I've only been gone for ten minutes! I let out a sigh and asked if the cabbie could drive faster. The old man nodded and drove a little faster. Once getting to the flat. I got my suitcase and paid the cabbie. I was about to walk away when I noticed a picture of two children.

"Cute kids" I said, "Are they yours?"

"Yes, they are" He said and then drove off.

I turned around and walked inside hoping nothing bad had happened while I've been gone. I climbed the stairs and set my suitcase down in the flat.

"What's going on? What could be dangerous?" I asked seeing John and Sherlock sitting with the pink suitcase in front of them.

"He needed to use a phone" John said.

That was it? That's what was so dangerous? He needed to borrow a phone? Where was his!?

"Really? I was at my Aunt's getting my things in a hurry, because I thought you had destroyed the flat or something!" I said glaring at Sherlock as he stared at the suitcase.

John's phone began to ring. Sherlock shh'd me and we all looked at John's phone. I was confused as to what was going on.

"A few hours after his last victim, and now he receives a text that can only be from her" Sherlock said.

"Did you have John text the killer?" I asked him.

"If somebody had just found that phone, they'd ignore a text like that, but the murderer... would panic" Sherlock said ignoring my question.

Sherlock shut the case and stood up quickly grabbed his coat.

"Have you talked to the police?" John asked Sherlock.

"Four people are dead. There isn't time to talk to the police" Sherlock said.

"So why are you talking to me?" John asked him.

"Mrs. Hudson took my skull" Sherlock said and trench coat from behind the door as both John and I looked at the fire place mantel to see the skull was gone.

"So I'm basically filling in for your skull?" John asked.

"Relax, you're doing fine" Sherlock told him, "Well"

"Well what?" John asked him.

"Well, you could just sit there and watch telly" Sherlock said.

"You want me to come with you?" John asked looking at him.

"I like company when I go out and I think better when I talk aloud. The skull just attracts attention so... problem?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes, Sergeant Donovan" John said and I rolled my eyes.

What did she have to do with this?

"What about her?" Sherlock asked him.

"She said you get off on this. You enjoy it" John said and I looked over Sherlock.

"And I said "dangerous," and here you two are" Sherlock said and walked out.

I let out a sigh and followed after him. John soon joined us as we walked down the stairs.

"Where are we going now?" I asked Sherlock as we walked pass some people.

"Northumberland Street. It's a five-minute walk from here" Sherlock told us.

"You think he's stupid enough to go there?" John asked him.

"No, I think he's brilliant enough" Sherlock told him, "I love the brilliant one; they're always so desperate to get caught"

"Why?" John and I asked him.

It wouldn't make sense, unless they want the fame of it.

"Appreciation. Applause. At long last, the spotlight. That's the frailty of genius, John, it needs an audience" Sherlock said.

"Yeah" John said.

"This is his hunting ground. Right here in the heart of the city" Sherlock said turning around as he kept walking, "Now that we know his victims were abducted, that changes everything. Because all of his victims disappeared from busy streets, crowded places, but nobody saw them go. Think! Who do we trust, even though we don't know them? Who passes unnoticed wherever they go? Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?" Sherlock said as we walked.

"Don't know. Who?" John asked.

"Haven't the faintest" Sherlock said, "Hungry?"

Sherlock walked into a little Italian restaurant. John and I followed him inside.

"Thank you, Billy" Sherlock said to a man at the door who showed us to a table by a window.

"22 Northumberland Street. Keep your eyes on it" Sherlock said taking his coat and scarf off from his seat.

John took his seat in front of the window. I sat across from Sherlock looking out the window for anyone acting strange.

"He isn't just going to ring the doorbell, though, is he?" John asked taking his coat off, "He's need to be mad"

"He has killed four people" Sherlock told him as he looking over at John.

"Okay" he said and a man walked over to the table.

"Sherlock!" The man said shaking his hand, "Anything on the menu, whatever you want, free. On the house, for you and for your dates"

"Do you want to eat?" Sherlock asked us as the man held out a menu for us.

"I'm not his date" John told the man.

"Me neither" I told him.

"This man got me off a murder charge" The man said pointing at Sherlock.

"This is Angelo. Three years ago, I successfully proved to Lestrade at a time of a particularly vicious triple murder, that Angelo was in a completely different part of town house-breaking" Sherlock told us as Angelo shook John's hand and kissed mine.

"He cleared my name" Angelo told us.

"I cleared it a bit" Sherlock told us, "Anything happening opposite?"

"Nothing" Angelo said, "But for this man, I'd have gone to prison"

"You did go to prison" Sherlock told him.

"I'll get a candle for the table. It's more romantic" Angelo said and walked off.

"I'm not his date" John told him.

"You two may as well eat. We might have a long wait" Sherlock said.

Angelo returned with a candle and set it on the table.

"Thanks" John said and then began to look at the menu.

I picked mine up and began to look at it also. A waiter came by took our orders and returned shortly with our food.

"People don't have archenemies" John said and I looked up at him from my plate of alfedo.

"Sorry?" Sherlock asked.

"In real life. There are no archenemies in real life, doesn't happen" John said.

"Doesn't it?" Sherlock asked, "Sounds a bit dull"

"So who did I meet?" John asked him.

I was lost. So Sherlock had an archenemy and John has met him already? Was that what was going on?

"What do real people have, then, in their real lives?" Sherlock asked.

"Friends? People they know, people they like, people they don't like. Girlfriends, boyfriends" John said.

"And family" I added.

"Well, as I was saying, dull" Sherlock said.

"You don't have a girlfriend, then?" John asked looking at Sherlock.

"Girlfriend? No, not really my area" Sherlock said and I almost choked on my water.

So he played for the other team. Such a shame, he's very good looking.

"Oh, right" John said looking at Sherlock, "Do you have a boyfriend? Which is fine, by the way"

"I know it's fine" Sherlock told him.

"So you've got a boyfriend, then?" John asked and I looked at the two.

Was John hinting something?

"No" Sherlock told him.

"Right, okay. You're unattached, like me" John told him, "Right. Good"

An awkward silent fell over the table. I ate my food watching the two.

"John. I think you should know that I consider myself married to my work and, while I'm flattered by your interest, I'm really not looking for any" Sherlock began, but John cut him off.

"No, I'm not asking... No. I'm just saying, it's all fine" John said.

"Good. Thank you" Sherlock said and looked at the window.

John then looked at me.

"What about you, Maria? Do you have a boyfriend?" John asked.

"I did have a boyfriend back in Dartmoor, but I broke up with him, because well I moved here" I told him.

"Look across the street" Sherlock said and we looked out the window, "Taxi, stopped. Nobody getting in, nobody getting out. Why a taxi?"

"Because no one would notice?" I said.

"Oh that's clever" John said.

"Is it clever? Why is it clever?" Sherlock asked him.

"That's him" John said

"Don't stare" Sherlock said.

"What? You're staring" John told him.

"Yeah" I said.

"We can't all stare" Sherlock said grabbed his coat and left.

I quickly set my fork down, took a sip of water and followed after him. So much for dinner. I stood next to Sherlock looking at the taxi. A man looked at us and turned around.

"Is that him? The killer?" I asked Sherlock.

"Maybe" He said and ran out into the road.

"Sherlock!" I shouted as he was almost hit by a car.

John jumped over leaving me behind. I quickly ran around the front of the car and after the two.

"I got the cab number" John said as they stopped.

"Good for you" Sherlock said as he stared at the taxi as it drove away.

My eyes went quickly when all of a sudden Sherlock looked down and began to speak quickly about right turns and left turns. Stop lights and everything else. Sherlock then took off running once more.

"Sorry!" John told a man that Sherlock had pushed through.

"Excuse me!" I said chasing after them.

We ran up the stairs of a building. We got to the roof ran down some stairs and jumped onto another building's roof. I followed Sherlock along the roof and jumped over another. I glanced behind to see John freezing up a bit.

"Come on, John!" I shouted at him.

"We're losing him!" Sherlock shouted also seeing John.

John jumped the building and we were off again. I jumped onto a fire escape with Sherlock leading the way and John behind us. We ran down some more stairs and jumped off of a building once more onto solid ground. We ran down an alley that lead to the main road.

"No! This way" Sherlock said as the taxi passed us.

Sherlock took a right, while John went left.

"No, this way!" Sherlock shouted him as we ran.

"Sorry" John said running the right way now.

We ran past many people. Took many rights and lefts, through back streets and alleyways. Until we got to the main road once again. Sherlock jumped out in front of the taxi.

"Police! Open her up!" Sherlock shouted at them and went to the back panting.

He opened the door and looked at the man. I slowly walked over to them along with John.

"No" Sherlock said looking at the man, "Teeth, tan... what, Californian? L.A., Santa Monica. Just arrived"

"How can you possibly know that?" I asked him.

"The luggage. Probably your first trip to London, right?" Sherlock asked the man, "Going by your final destination and the route the cabbie was taking you"

"Sorry, are you guys the police?" The man asked looking at us.

"Yeah" Sherlock said flashing him a badge, "Everything all right?"

I held up a badge that I had nicked off of Sally last week also. So he could see it.

"Yeah" The man said and looking at us.

"Welcome to London" Sherlock said and walked off.

I put away my badge and walked away as John told him something. I took a few breaths to catch my breathing. Running like that made me realized how lazy I have become.

"Can't believe that wasn't him" I said to Sherlock. .

"Basically just a cab that happened to slow down?" John said before he could say anything about that.

"Basically" Sherlock told him.

"Not the murderer?" John said.

"Not the murderer, no" Sherlock told him.

"Wrong country, good alibi" John said.

"As they go" Sherlock said.

"Where did you get this?" John asked Sherlock grabbing the police badge.

"Detective Inspector Lestrade?" John asked seeing the badge.

"Yeah. I pickpocket him when he's annoying. You can keep that one. I got plenty at the flat" Sherlock told him and then turned to me.

"Where did you get that one?" Sherlock asked me.

"Nicked it off of Donovan desk last week" I told him and John began to laugh.

We looked at him.

"What?" We asked him.

"Nothing, just "Welcome to London."" John said and we all began to chuckle at that, until we spotted the American talking to a few police officers and he was pointing at us. Great more running. I let out a sigh.

"Got your breath back?" Sherlock asked us.

"Ready when you are" John said as I nodded.

And we began to run again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

We ran until we made it back to 221B Baker Street. I was almost out of breath from the run. I needed to start running during the mornings.

"That was crazy" I said as we walked into the flat placing my coat on a hook by the door.

"That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever done" John said after he put his coat on a hook.

"And you invaded Afghanistan" Sherlock said as we all leaned against the wall breathing heavily from the run.

We all began to laugh at that.

"That wasn't just me" John told him, "Why aren't we back at the restaurant?"

"Yeah, why aren't we? Won't we miss the killer?" I asked him.

"Oh, they can keep an eye out" Sherlock said, "It was a long shot anyway"

"So what were we doing there?" John asked him.

"Oh, just passing the time and proving a point" Sherlock told him.

"What point?" John asked him.

"You" He said and looked at the staircase, "Mrs. Hudson! Dr. Watson will the room upstairs"

"Says who?" John asked him.

"Says the man at the door" Sherlock told him and we looked at the door.

Someone knocked a second later.

"Amazing. Simply amazing" I breathed and saw Angelo.

"Sherlock texted me. Said you forgot this" Angelo said holding up John's cane.

"Thank you" John said taking it from him, "Thank you"

Mrs. Hudson then walked out of her flat quickly over to use. I frowned seeing the woman. Something was wrong.

"Sherlock, what have you done?" She asked him.

"Mrs. Hudson?" Sherlock said looking at the old woman.

"Upstairs" She said and Sherlock rushed up the stairs with John and I behind him.

Sherlock opened the door to the flat and walked into it quickly. Uncle Greg was sitting in a chair while police officers were searching the place.

"What are you doing?" Sherlock asked my Uncle.

"Well, I knew you'd find the case. I'm not stupid" Uncle Greg said.

"You can't just break into my flat" Sherlock told him.

"Well, you can't withhold evidence. And I didn't break into your flat" Uncle Greg told him.

"Well, what do you call this, then?" Sherlock asked him.

"It's a drug bust, and I'm visiting my niece" He told him.

"Don't bring me into this" I muttered.

"Seriously? This guy, a junkie? Have you met him?" John asked.

"John" Sherlock said turning towards him.

"I'm pretty sure you could search this flat all day, you wouldn't find anything you could call recreational" John said.

"John, you probably want to shut up now" Sherlock told him.

"Yeah, but come on" John said looking at Sherlock, "No"

"What?" Sherlock asked him.

"You?" John said.

"Shut up!" Sherlock told him and looked at my Uncle, "I'm not your sniffer dog"

"No, Anderson's my sniffer dog" Uncle Greg said and looked at the kitchen.

We looked at the kitchen to see Anderson waving at us.

"Anderson, what are you doing here on a drugs bust?" Sherlock asked him.

"Oh, I volunteered" Anderson said, "And it seems he found another suitcase"

Anderson held my suitcase up.

"You idiot that's mine" I told him as I marched over to him and snatched it from him.

"They all volunteered. They're not, strictly speaking, on the drug squad, but they're very keen" Uncle Greg said.

"Are these human eyes?" Sally asked walking out of the kitchen with a jar of eyes.

I looked at Sherlock with wide eyes. Why did he have a jar of eyeballs?

"Put those back" He told her.

"They were in the microwave" She told him.

"It's an experiment" He told her.

"They better not be in there for long" I told him as I set my suitcase by the couch.

"Keep looking, guys" Uncle Greg told them and then stood up, "Or you could start helping us properly and I'll stand them down"

"This is childish" Sherlock told him as he walked around.

"Well, I'm dealing with a child" Uncle Greg told him, "Sherlock, this is our case. I'm letting you in, but you do not go off on your own. Clear?"

"So you set up a pretend drugs bust to bully me?" Sherlock asked him.

"It stops being pretend if they find anything" Uncle Greg told him.

"Uncle Greg, you don't have to be this way" I told him.

"Not now, Maria" He told me and I glared at him.

"I am clean" Sherlock said.

"Is your flat, all of it?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"I don't even smoke" Sherlock said and raised the sleeve of his shirt up revealing a patch.

"Neither do I" Uncle Greg said doing to the same, "So let's work together. We've found Rachel"

"Who is she?" Sherlock asked him.

"Jennifer Wilson's only daughter" Uncle Greg said.

So she could have been the killer. Jennifer found out what Rachel was doing, tried to stop her, but Rachel had poisoned her. So Jennifer carved Rachel's name to tell us she was the killer. Oh, I wonder if that what actually had happened.

"Her daughter? Why would she write her daughter's name, why?" Sherlock said.

"Never mind that, we found the case" Anderson said pointing at the pink suitcase, "According to someone, the murderer has the case, and we found it in the hands of our favorite psychopath"

"I'm not a psychopath, Anderson" Sherlock told him, "I'm a high functioning sociopath. Do your research. You need to bring Rachel in and you need to question her, I need to question her"

"She's dead" Uncle Greg said.

So after she killed her mother, she killed herself?

"Excellent. How, when, and why? Is there a connection? There has to be" Sherlock told him.

"I doubt it, since she's been dead for 14 years" Uncle Greg said, "Technically, she was never alive. Rachel was Jennifer Wilson's stillborn daughter 14 years ago"

"And there goes my theory" I muttered and let out a sigh.

"That's not right" Sherlock said, "How... why would she do that? Why?"

"Why would she think of her daughter in her last moments? Yeah, sociopath, I'm seeing it now" Anderson said.

"She didn't think about her daughter. She scratched her name on the floor with her fingernails. She was dying. It took effort, it would have hurt" Sherlock said.

"You said that the victims all took the poison themselves that he makes them take it. Well, maybe he, I don't know, talks to them? Maybe he used the death of her daughter somehow" John said.

"Yeah, but that was ages ago. Why would she still be upset?" Sherlock asked and we all looked at him, "Not good?"

"No, not good" I told him shaking my head.

"Bit not good, yeah" John also told him.

"Yeah, but if you were dying, if you'd been murdered, in your very last few seconds what would either of you say?" Sherlock asked us and I was brought to the night when my Mother had been killed.

I shook my head trying to get rid of the sounds and images that flashed through my mind.

"Please, God, let me live" John told him.

"Oh, use you imagination" Sherlock told him.

"I don't have too" He told Sherlock .

"What would you say Maria?" Sherlock asked me.

"Now don't go bothering her with stuff like that. She already has enough troubles" Uncle Greg said.

"I'd say the same thing as John. I have said the same thing as John" I told him with a serious face trying to get rid of the images.

"Yeah, but if you were clever, really clever" Sherlock began.

"I am clever!" I told him.

Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"Jennifer Wilson running all those lovers, she was clever. She's trying to tell us something" Sherlock said as Mrs. Hudson walked into the room.

"Isn't the doorbell working? Your taxi's here, Sherlock" Mrs. Hudson asked.

"I didn't order a taxi. Go away" Sherlock told her as he walked around.

"Oh, dear, they're making such a mess" Mrs. Hudson said, "What are they looking for?"

"A mess that I'm going to have to clean up" I muttered as I looked around.

"It's a drugs bust, Mrs. Hudson" John told her.

"But they're just for my hip" She said putting her hand at the hip, "They're herbal soothers"

"You won't get in any trouble with that, Mrs. Hudson" I told her not wanting her to get worried.

"Shut up, everybody, shut up!" Sherlock shouted causing me to jump, "Don't move, don't speak, don't breathe. I'm trying to think. Anderson, face the other way. You're putting me off"

I laughed a little at that.

"What? My face is?" Anderson said from the kitchen.

"Everybody quiet and still. Anderson, turn your back" Uncle Greg told them.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Anderson said.

"Your back, now, please!" Uncle Greg shouted at him.

"Come on think, quick!" Sherlock said.

"What about your taxi?" Mrs. Hudson asked.

"Mrs. Hudson!" Sherlock shouted at her.

"I'll go tell the cab driver that Sherlock didn't order a taxi" I told her and walked out of the room.

I walked down the stairs, grabbed my coat and put it on. I went outside and over to the cab. I bent down at the window and smiled. It was the cabbie with the two children, who brought me back here when I had gotten my suitcase earlier.

"Hello, um, Sherlock didn't order a cab" I told him.

"I know" He said and held up a gun.

I gasped and was about to run back inside, but he stopped me.

"If you run, I'll kill the old woman" He said and I nodded my head staying put, "Now get in the cab. Don't do anything stupid, or the old woman is dead"

I nodded my head and got into the back seat. He turned around and smiled at me.

"Now, I'm going to go inside. Don't run or warn anyone. I just need to speak to Mr. Holmes and then you're free" The man said and got out of the cab.

He walked inside. I couldn't believe what was happening! He was the killer! All this time it was a cab diver! Oh my God! I have to warn Sherlock! But that means Mrs. Hudson would be killed! But that also means Sherlock would get killed if I didn't warn him!

I got out my phone and was about to text Sherlock, but the man walked out of the building. I quickly put my phone in my coat as he stood in front of the cab blocking me from Sherlock sight.

"Taxi for Sherlock Holmes" The man said as Sherlock walked outside.

"I didn't order a taxi" He told the man.

"Doesn't mean you don't need one" He said.

"You're the cabbie" Sherlock said, "The one who stopped outside Northumberland Street. It was you, not your passenger"

"See, no one ever thinks about the cabbie. It's like you're invisible, just the back of an head. Proper advantage for a serial killer" The man said and Sherlock began to walk over towards him.

"Is this a confession?" Sherlock asked looking up at a window.

"Oh, yeah. And I'll tell you what else" The man said, "If you call the coppers now, I won't run. You're girlfriend will be safe. I'll sit quiet and they can take me down, I promise"

"I don't have a girlfriend" Sherlock told him.

The man took a step to the left revealing me in the back of the cab and Sherlock looked at me. His eyes went wide when he saw me. He looked at the man.

"What did you do to her?" He asked the cab driver.

"Nothing at all, Mr. Holmes" The man said.

"Why won't you run? If I call the cops?" Sherlock asked him.

"Because you're not going to do that" The man told him.

"Am I not?" Sherlock asked him.

"I didn't kill those four people, Mr. Holmes. I spoke to them, and they killed themselves" He said, "If you get the coppers now, I promise you one thing. I will never tell you what I said"

The driver walked to the hood of the cab and stopped when Sherlock began to speak.

"No one else will die, though, and I believe they call that a result" He told the man.

"You won't ever understand how those people died. What kind of result do you care about?" The man said.

I looked at Sherlock. He should get my Uncle! Who cares how those people died! The killings will stop.

The cab driver got into the cab and just sat there.

"If I wanted to understand, what would I do?" Sherlock asked him from the window.

"Let me take you for a ride, like I am with your girlfriend" The man said and I looked at him with wide eyes.

That bastard! He's been planning on killing me!

"So you can kill me, too?" Sherlock asked him.

"I don't want to kill you, Mr. Holmes. I'm going to talk to you and then you're going to kill yourself. Along with the girl" The man told him.

Sherlock stood there for a few seconds thinking, before he got into the back seat.

"You idiot" I muttered to him angrily.

If I die tonight because of him, I am so going to kill him for this!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

**AN: I'm just curious about what everyone is thinking about this story? Is it original? Is it good, or bad? **

* * *

As the driver drove through the streets of London his phone began to ring.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" I asked him getting annoyed by the ringing.

"He's not because it's not his phone" Sherlock said and I looked at him.

"It's the woman in pink phone?" I said and he nodded.

A few minutes passed in silence, until Sherlock spoke up.

"How did you find me?" Sherlock asked him.

"Oh, I recognized you. As soon as I saw you chasing my cab" The man said, "Sherlock Holmes. I was warned about you. I've been on your website, too; brilliant stuff, loved it"

He had a website? Who else has a website? John?

"Who warned you about me?" Sherlock asked him.

"Someone out there who's noticed you" He said.

"Who?" Sherlock asked, "Who would notice me?"

"You're too modest, Mr. Holmes" The man said.

"I'm really not" Sherlock said.

"Got yourself a fan" The man said.

"Tell me more" Sherlock told him.

"That's all you're going to know" He said and then added, "in this lifetime"

My eyes went wide and I looked over at Sherlock. He was calm and acted like it didn't bother him one bit that we might die tonight. No one spoke during the rest of the ride. The man finally stopped the cab in front of two identical buildings.

The man got out of the cab and walked over to where I sitting. He opened the door and I scooted closer to Sherlock.

"Where are we?" Sherlock asked.

"You know every street in London" The man said, "You know exactly where we are"

"Roland-Kerr Further Education College" Sherlock said, "Why here?"

"It's open. Cleaners are in. One thing about being a cabbie, you always know a nice quiet spot for a murder. I'm surprised more of us don't branch out" He said.

"The reason is probably because they aren't crazy like you" I told him.

"Oh it'll be a pleasure to talk to you sweetheart" The man said and I glared at him.

"And you just walk your victims in? How?" Sherlock asked and the man raised a gun at us, "Oh, dull"

Dull? The man has a bloody gun aimed at us! How is that dull!?

"Don't worry, it gets better" The man said.

"You can't make people take their own lives at gunpoint" Sherlock told the man.

"I don't" He told Sherlock, "It's much better than that"

"How?" I asked the man.

"Don't need this with either of you, 'cause you'll follow me" The man said and walked away.

I looked at Sherlock.

"Are we?" I asked him.

"Yes" Sherlock said and made a gesture for me to get out.

I did and followed him over to the man.

"I hope you know what you're doing" I whispered to him as we walked inside the college.

We followed the man to a big room with desks.

"Well what do you think? It's up to you two" The man said from behind us, "You're the ones who's gonna die here.

Sherlock looked at the man.

"No we're not" Sherlock said.

"That's what they all say" The man said and then walked over to a table, "Shall we talk?"

The man sat down at the table. Sherlock and I walked over to the table and sat across from him.

"Bit risky, wasn't it? Took us away under the eye of about half a dozen policemen. They're not that stupid" Sherlock said.

"Except for Anderson" I muttered.

"And Mrs. Hudson will remember you" Sherlock continued.

"You call that a risk? Nah" The man said and placed a small bottle with two pills in it, "This is a risk. Oh, I like this bit, because you don't get it yet, do you? But you're about to. I just have to do this"

The man placed another bottle on the table same as the other.

"Weren't expecting that, were you?" He asked, "Oh, you're going to love this"

"Love what?" Sherlock and I asked him.

"Sherlock Holmes, look at you. Here in the flesh. That website of your, your fan told me about it" The man told us.

"My fan?" Sherlock asked him.

Who was this fan that man was speaking about? Why would Sherlock fan warn this killer about him? It just didn't make any sense. None of it did.

"You are brilliant. You are a proper genius. "The Science of Deduction", now that is proper thinking. Between you and me sitting here, why can't people think? Doesn't it make you mad? Why can't people just think?" The man said.

"Oh, I see. So you're a proper genius, too" Sherlock said and I looked at the man.

"Don't look it, do I?" The man asked, "Funny little man driving a cab. But you'll know better in a minute. Chances are, it'll be the last thing either of you ever know"

"Okay, two bottles. Explain" Sherlock told him.

I looked at the bottles.

"There's a good bottle and a bad bottle. You take the pill from the good bottle, you live. Take the pill from the bad bottle, you die" The man explained.

"Both bottles are of course identical" Sherlock said.

"In every way" The man said.

"And do you know which is which?" Sherlock asked him.

"Of course I know" He said.

"But we don't" Sherlock said.

"Wouldn't be a game if you knew. You're the ones who chooses" He said.

"A game? This isn't a game! You're playing with peoples lives!" I told him.

"Quiet Missy" The man told me, I glared at him.

"Why should we?" Sherlock asked the man, "We've got nothing to go on. What's in it for us?"

"I haven't told you the best bit yet" The man said, "Whatever bottle you choose, I take the pill from the other one. And then together, we take our medicine. I won't cheat. It's your choice. I'll take whatever pill you don't. Didn't expect that, did you, Mr. Holmes?"

"This is what you did to the rest of them? You gave them a choice?" Sherlock said.

"And now I'm giving both of you one" He said, "Take your time. Get yourself together. I want your best game"

"It's not a game, it's chance" Sherlock told him.

"I've played four times. I'm alive" He said, "It's not chance, Mr. Holmes, it's chess. It's a game of chess. With one move and one survivor. Maybe two being this case. And this, this is the move"

The man moved a bottle towards us.

"Did I just give you the good bottle or the bad bottle? You can choose either one" The man asked.

I looked at the two bottles and then at Sherlock.

"You ready yet, Mr. Holmes? Miss? Ready to play?" He asked us.

"Play what? It's a 50-50 chance" Sherlock asked him.

"You're not playing the numbers, you're playing me. Did I just give you the good pill or the bad pill?" He said, "Is it a bluff, or a double bluff, or a triple bluff?"

"It's still just chance" Sherlock told him.

"Four people in a row? It's not chance" The man told us.

"It's luck" I told him.

"It's genius. I know how people think. I know how people think I think. I can see it all like a map inside my head. Everyone's so stupid, even you. Or maybe God just loves me" The man said.

"You're insane" I told him.

"Either way, you're wasted as a cabbie" Sherlock told him placing his hands on the table and then placed them to his chin, "So, you risked your life four times to just kill strangers. Why?"

"Time to play" The man said.

"Oh, I am playing" Sherlock told him, "This is my turn. There's shaving foam behind your left ear. Nobody's pointed it out to you. There are traces of where it's happened before, so obviously you live on your own. There's no one to tell you. But there's a photograph of children and the children's mother has been cut out of the picture. If she'd died, she'd still be there. The photograph's old, but the frame's new. You think of your children, you don't get to see them. Estranged father. She took the kids, but you still love them, and it still hurts. Ah, but there's more. Your clothes, recently laundered, but everything you're wearing is at least three years old. Keeping up appearances, but not planning ahead. And here you are on a kamikaze murder spree. What's that about? Ah. Three years ago. Is that when they told you?"

I looked at Sherlock confused.

"Told him what?" I asked him.

"That he's a dead man walking" Sherlock said and my eyes went wide.

How did he know that man was dying? It's amazing how he knows this stuff.

"So are you and your girlfriend" The man said.

"You don't have long, though. Am I right?" Sherlock asked him.

"Aneurism, right here" The man said and pointed at his head, "Any breath could be my last"

"And because you're dying, you've just murdered four people" Sherlock told him.

"I've outlived four people. That's the most fun you can have with an aneurism" He said.

"No. No, there's something else. You didn't just kill four people because you're bitter. Bitterness is a paralytic. Love is a much more vicious motivator. Somehow, this is about your children" Sherlock said.

"Oh. You are good, aren't you?" The man said.

"But how?" Sherlock asked.

"When I die, they won't get much, my kids. Not a lot of money; I'm driving cabs" The man said.

"Or a serial killer" Sherlock added.

"You'd be surprised" The man said.

"Surprise me" Sherlock told him.

"I have a sponsor" He said.

A sponsor? Someone is actually paying this guy to kill people!? Oh what is the world coming too?

"You have a what?" Sherlock asked him.

"For every life I take, money goes to my kids" He said, "More I kill, the better off they'll be. You see? Nicer than you think"

"Who'd sponsor a serial killer?" Sherlock asked.

"Who'd be a fan of Sherlock Holmes?" The man asked.

"The man who would sponsor a serial killer?" I questioned.

"Oh, she's a little smarter than I gave her credit for. She's a keeper Mr. Holmes" The man said, "You're not the only one to enjoy a good murder. There's others out there just like you, except you're just a man. And they're so much more than that"

"What do you mean, more than a man?" Sherlock asked him, "An organization? What?"

"There's a name no one says. And I'm not going to say it, either. Now, enough chatter. Time to choose" The man said.

"What if I don't choose either? I could just walk out of here with Maria" Sherlock asked him.

The man let out a sigh and raised his gun at us.

"You can take a 50-50 chance, or I can shoot both of you in the head" He said, "Funny enough, no one's ever gone for that option"

"I'll have the gun, please" Sherlock told him and I looked at him.

Was he crazy!? Most likely he was.

"Are you sure?" The man asked.

"Definitely. The gun" Sherlock told him.

"You don't want to phone a friend?" He asked.

"The gun" Sherlock said.

The man pulled the trigger of the gun. I closed my eyes quickly to not see Sherlock get shot, but a bullet or thump never came like I had expected. I opened my eyes to see a flame from the gun. That bastard! The gun was nothing, but a fake!

"You little weasel!" I hissed glaring at him.

"I know a real gun when I see one" Sherlock told him.

"None of the others did" The man said.

"Clearly" Sherlock said, "Well, this has been very interesting. I look forward to the court case. Come on Maria"

Sherlock stood up and began to walk away. I followed after him.

"Should I call my Uncle?" I asked him getting my phone out.

"Just before you go, did you figure it out?" The man asked before Sherlock could answer my question.

Sherlock stopped at the door and turned slightly. I stopped and looked at the man.

"Which one's the good bottle?" He asked.

"Of course. Child's play" Sherlock told him.

"Well, which one, then?" The man asked as Sherlock grabbed the handle and opened the door slightly, "Which would you have picked, just so I know whether I could have beaten you?"

Sherlock let go of the handle and I frowned. I grabbed his wrist.

"Sherlock, you don't have to do this" I told him.

"Come on, play the game" The man said.

"I have too Maria" He told me and walked over to the man.

I let out a sigh and quickly sent a text to Uncle Greg.

Roland-Kerr Further Education College.

Killer is here with Sherlock and I.

Bring back up and ambulance.

QUICKLY!

MW

I looked up to see Sherlock grab the bottle that was in front of the man.

"Oh, interesting" The man said, "What about you love? Which one would you have chosen?"

"Why should I tell you?" I asked him, "I'll just let you think about it while your in prison. Would I had choosen the bad one or the good one? Only I and probably, Sherlock would know"

The man glared at me and then grabbed the other bottle. Sherlock looked at the pill inside of the bottle.

"So, what do you think? Shall we?" The man asked, "Really, what do you think? Can you beat me? Clever enough to bet your life?"

"Sherlock, please, just walk away" I begged him, "You don't have to do this"

"I bet you get bored, don't you? I know you do. Man like you, so clever" The man said as Sherlock untwisted the cap.

I let out a sigh and looked down at my feet shaking my head. I prayed to God that something will happen to stop him.

"But what's the point of being clever if you can't prove it?" The man asked, "Still the addict. But this, this is what you're really addicted to. You'll do anything, anything at all to stop being bored. You're not bored now, are you?"

I jumped and nearly fell over from shock when a bullet shot the man. I stared wide eyed at the man as he fell to the ground.

"Oh my God!" I said and rushed over to him.

He may be a killer, but that didn't mean I was not going to help him. I took off my coat and got onto my knees. I looked at where the bullet had went through. His lung, he was going to smother to death or die from blood lost. I shook my head and stood up. There was nothing I could do. I jumped when he began to cough. Sherlock quickly made his way over to us.

"Was I right?" Sherlock asked him holding out the pill, "I was, wasn't I? Did I get it right?"

"Sherlock, he's dying" I said and touched his shoulder.

Sherlock threw the pill at the man and stood up. I removed my hand and looked away from the man.

"Okay, tell me this. Your sponsor, who was it?" Sherlock asked him this time, "The one who told you about me, my fan? I want a name"

"No" The man told him.

"You're dying, but there's still time to hurt you. Give me a name" Sherlock said and stepped on the man's shoulder.

I looked away and tried to ignore the cries of pain from the man. Tears came to my eyes as it reminded me of my Mothers screaming.

_"No! Gah! Run, Maria! Ahhhh! Get out of here!" _

"Moriarty!" The man shouted snapping me out of the awful memory.

I let out a breath and dropped to my knees.

"Are you okay?" Sherlock asked looking at me, "Maria?"

I closed my eyes and opened them once again after seeing the glowing red eyes. I stood up quickly wiping my eyes.

"Uh, yeah" I told him, "I already text my Uncle. He should be here soon"

As soon as I said that sirens could be heard. I walked over to the window and saw an ambulance and police cars.

"So any clue on who Moriarty is?" I asked Sherlock as we walked out of the college.

"No, but I will find out" He said.

We were taken to the ambulance and was checked out there. They made us sit in the back with these ugly orange blankets over our shoulders.

"Uncle Greg!" I said jumping off of the ambulance and running over to him.

I hugged him tightly happy to see him.

"Thank God, you're all right" He said hugging me.

"Why have I got this blanket?" Sherlock asked ruining our hug, "They keep putting this blanket on me"

"Yeah, it's for shock" Uncle Greg said letting go of me and walking over to Sherlock.

"I'm not in shock" Sherlock told him.

"Yeah, but some of the guys want to take photographs" Uncle Greg said.

"So the shooter, no sign?" Sherlock asked him.

"Cleared off before we got here" Uncle Greg said, "But a guy like that would have had enemies, I suppose. One of them could have been following him. But we've got nothing to go on"

I wonder who could have done it? Maybe it could had been this Moriarty? Or someone else?

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Okay give me" Uncle Greg said and Sherlock stood up from the ambulance.

"The bullet they just dug out of the wall is from a handgun. A kill shot over that distance from that kind of a weapon, that's a crack shot you're looking for. But not just a marksman, a fighter. His hands couldn't have shaken at all, so clearly he's acclimatized to violence. He didn't fire until I was in immediate danger, though, so a strong moral principle. You're looking for a man probably with a history of military service and nerves of steel" Sherlock said.

I got it! I knew who had shot the man. It was John! I quickly coughed and Sherlock looked at me. He then saw John standing next to a police car.

"Actually, do you know what? Ignore me" Sherlock told Uncle Greg.

"Sorry?" Uncle Greg asked

"Ignore all of that. It's just the shock talking" Sherlock told him.

"Where are you going?" Uncle Greg asked as Sherlock grabbed my wrist pulling me along with him.

"I just need to talk about the man" Sherlock said.

"I've still got questions" Uncle Greg told him.

"Oh, what now?" Sherlock asked, "I'm in shock look, I've got a blanket. Maria? You must be in shock also?"

"Oh, yeah. I am. I also have a blanket" I said.

"Sherlock! Maria!" Uncle Greg said crossing his arms.

"And I just caught you a serial killer. More or less" He told him.

"And I helped!" I told him.

"Okay, we'll pull you two in tomorrow. Off you go" He said.

"Bye Uncle Greg!" I told him as Sherlock walked off still pulling me along like I was some doll.

He took the blanket off of his shoulders and tossed it into a cop car. I did the same with mine once we got over to John.

"Sergeant Donovan's just been explaining everything. Two pills" John said as we walked over to him, "Dreadful business, isn't it? Dreadful"

"Good shot" Sherlock told him.

"Yes, yes, must have been, through that window" John said and I smiled.

"Well, you'd know that, wouldn't you?" I asked him.

"Did you get the powder burns out of your fingers?" Sherlock asked him, "I don't suppose you'd serve time for this, but let's avoid the court case"

John cleared his throat and looked around.

"Are you all right?" Sherlock asked him.

"Yes, of course I'm all right" John told him.

"Well, you have just killed a man" Sherlock said and I smacked his arm.

He shouldn't be saying something like that around so many cops.

"Yeah. That's true" John said smiling, "But he wasn't a very nice man"

"No. No, he wasn't really, was he?" Sherlock said.

"Not all" I said.

"He was, frankly, a bloody awful cabbie" John said and we all chuckled at that.

"That's true he was" Sherlock said, "He was a bad cabbie. You should've seen the route he took us to get here"

"And the one he took when he brought me back from my Aunt's earlier" I said as we walked away laughing.

"Stop, we can't giggle, it's a crime scene" John said as he laughed.

"You're the one who shot him, don't blame me" Sherlock told him.

"Sherlock you need to quit saying that" I told him with a little laugh.

"Keep your voice down" John said as we passed Sally, "Sorry, it's just nerves, I think"

"Sorry" Sherlock said and I just ignored her.

"You were going to take that damn pill, weren't you?" John asked Sherlock.

I stopped and I looked at Sherlock. I was still angry at him for doing that! He was going get himself killed, leaving me to find a new job! I actually like this one! It's more fun.

"Course I wasn't" Sherlock told him.

"You were too! And don't be so stupid next time!" I told him and smacked his arm lightly, "I don't want to find a new job so soon! I like this one"

"I was biding my time" He told me, "Knew you'd turn up"

"No, you didn't. That's how you get your kicks, isn't it? You risk your life to prove you're clever" John told him.

"Why would I do that?" Sherlock asked him.

"Because you're an idiot" John told him.

"And you're bored" I said.

Sherlock smiled at that.

"Dinner?" He asked.

"Starving" John and I told him.

"End of Baker Street there's a good Chinese, stays open till 2:00" Sherlock said as we walked, "You can always tell a good Chinese by examining the bottom third of the door handle"

"I never heard that before" I told him as we walked.

"Sherlock, that's him" John said quickly catching our attention, "That's the man I was talking to you about"

We looked at John who was staring at a man. I looked them confused. Who was he?

"I know exactly who that is" Sherlock said as he walked over to the man.

"So, another case cracked. How very public spirited. But that's never really your motivation, is it?" The man asked Sherlock.

"What are you doing here?" Sherlock asked him.

"As ever, I am concerned about you" The man said.

"Yes, I've been hearing about your concern" Sherlock told him.

"Always so aggressive. Did it never occur to you that you and I belong on the same side?" The man asked.

"Oddly enough, no" Sherlock told him.

"We have more in common than you'd like to believe" The man told him, "This petty feud between us is simply childish. People will suffer. And you know how it always upset Mummy"

Mummy? They were brothers? Sherlock had a brother?

"I upset her? Me?" Sherlock asked him, "It wasn't me that upset her, Mycroft"

"No, wait" John said interrupting the two, "Mummy? Who's Mummy?"

"Mother, our mother" Sherlock told him, "This is my brother, Mycroft. Putting on weight again?"

"Losing it, in fact" Mycroft told him.

"You have a brother?" I asked surprised.

"Of course I have one" Sherlock said.

"So he's your brother?" John asked.

"Yes, he's my brother" Sherlock told him.

"So he's not..." John began.

"Not what?" Sherlock asked him.

"I don't know, criminal mastermind?" John asked.

"Close enough" Sherlock muttered.

"For goodness sake. I occupy a minor position in the British government" Mycroft told us.

"He is the British government when he's not too busy being the British secret service or the CIA on a freelance basis. Good evening, Mycroft. Try not to start a war before I get home" Sherlock told him, "You know what it does to the traffic"

Sherlock then grabbed my wrist once more and began to drag me. I let out a sigh and walked quickly to keep up with him so my arm wouldn't get ripped out of it's socket.

"You know you don't have to drag me" I told him.

"I know, I just didn't want my brother to get to you. He might threatened or bribe you to stay away" He said and paused for a second, "And I need an assistant"

"So, dim sum" John said walking up to us.

"Mmm, I can always predict the fortune cookies" Sherlock said.

"No, you can't" John told.

"Almost can" Sherlock said.

"Impossible" I said.

"You did get shot, though" Sherlock said.

"Sorry?" John asked him.

"In Afghanistan, there was an actual wound?" Sherlock told him.

"Oh, yeah, in the shoulder" John told him.

"Shoulder, I thought so" Sherlock said.

"No, you didn't" John said.

"The left one" Sherlock said.

"Lucky guess" John said.

"I never guess" Sherlock said.

"Yes, you do" I told him.

"What are you happy about?" John asked him.

"Moriarty" Sherlock said.

Why would he be happy about him?

"What's Moriarty?" John asked.

"I've absolutely no idea" Sherlock said and I rolled my eyes shaking my head.

We got a cab and road to the chinese restaurant that Sherlock was talking about. The food was great, and I was surprised to see Sherlock eating also. When we were done eating, the waiter had given us a fortune cookie.

"What does your say John?" I asked him since he was the first to crack his open.

"Um, let's see 'There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before.'" He read.

"I highly doubt that something like this has happened before" I laughed.

"I do to, so what does your say?" John asked me.

"Let's see" I said and cracked the cookie in half.

I pulled out the little paper and read it.

"It says, 'Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you'" I said smiling and looked next to me. It was just a wall, but on the otherside was Sherlock, "Wonder what that means? So Sherlock what does your say?"

I guess one day I'll figure it out.

"'The best is yet to come'" He said and set the paper down, "Shall we get back to the flat?"

Sherlock stood up grabbed his coat and scarf. I stood up putting my coat on also. We left the restaurant. I looked out the window of the cab wondering what tomorrow will bring?


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

I was surrounded by a dark foggy forest. My heart was beating loudly in my ears from the fear I felt. I looked around hearing something running close by. I let out a gasp and spun around hearing a twig snap from behind me. I let out a murdering scream seeing two big red glowing eyes in front of me. I could feel the hot breath coming from the monster that haunted me.

"What's wrong!?" Sherlock asked barging into my room with John behind him with his gun out.

Both of them were breathing heavily looking around for anything that could had caused me to scream. I looked at them both shaking slightly from the nightmare I had.

"I-I had a bad dream" I told them, "I'm sorry"

Sherlock let out a sigh and shook his head before walking out of my room.

"You want to talk about it?" John asked and I shook my head.

"No, I... What time is it?" I asked him.

"Uh, it's nine" He said looking at his wrist watch.

My eyes went wide. I was late again! I got out of my bed quickly.

"Oh, no! I'm late again!" I muttered to myself running to my closet.

"Late for what?" John asked curiously.

"Uh, doctor appointment" I sort of lied.

It was a therapist appointment. Since what had happened to my Mother and these nightmares I keep having, Uncle Greg has been forcing me to go to this therapist named Ella Thompson, to speak about my feelings, which was bloody ridiculous I think.

"Are you sick?" John asked and I shook my head.

"Just a check up" I told him and ran out of the room for the bathroom.

I didn't have time for a quick shower so I just changed clothes, brushed my teeth and hair, before leaving the flat. I got a taxi and rode it to Ella's office. I walked in panting from running up the stairs. I walked into her office, and apologized for being late again.

"It's fine" She told me as I sat down in a chair, "So how are you?"

"I'm fine. Helped find a serial killer last week with one of my new flat-mates" I told her making her eyes go wide.

"It wouldn't happen to be the one who killed those four people with poison, would it?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah" I told her.

"Oh, why would you do something like that?" She asked me.

"It beats sitting around all day at the flat, plus it was part of my job to do it" I told her.

"Part of your job?" She asked me.

"Yeah, my flat-mate and boss, Sherlock Holmes is a consulting detective. I'm his assistant" I told her.

"Oh, so enough about your new job. Tell me, have you had any more nightmares since our last session?" She asked me and I looked down at the ground.

"Yeah, it was the same as the others. In a foggy forest, heart beat in my ears, the hound running around, the red eyes, the breath and the waking up screaming" I told her.

"So nothing has changed?" She asked writing something down.

"Nothing at all. Is this really suppose to help me, Ella? This therapy?" I asked her.

"I don't know, but we can try" She told me.

I shook my head. I knew it wasn't going to stop. These nightmares. Every night for the last ten weeks, since my mum had been killed, I've been having that awful nightmare. Always the same never changing one bit, never going away. It haunted me and will continue on haunting me, like this other person who had seen his father get killed by the beast when he was only a child. Everyone thought he was crazy and they still think it.

The session with Ella went on for a little bit longer after that. It was usually the basic's talk about my feelings and stuff. When it was over I left the place, knowing that I wasn't going to go back. It was useless! A waste of money, that I couldn't waste.

Might have a new case.

SH

I smiled at that. Hopefully he accepts it. It's been a week since the Study in Pink case, as John likes to call it on his blog, has happened. We hadn't got a case since then. I got a taxi and rode it back to the flat. I paid the cabbie and walked upstairs.

"I'm home" I said and froze seeing Sherlock kick a man with a sword off of him, "Oh my God!"

Sherlock looked at me.

"Good, you're back" He said and went over to the man.

The man got up and held Sherlock down to the table with his sword at his neck.

"What should I do!?" I asked Sherlock as he kneed the man's side.

"Something!" He said.

I grabbed a metal tea kettle and hit the man upside the head with it. He stumbled a bit scratching the table with his sword. Sherlock pushed him into the living room and dodged the man's sword as he swung it at him.

"Look!" Sherlock shouted pointing at the fireplace.

The man looked and Sherlock uppercut him, knocking him out cold in his chair. I dropped the dented tea kettle to the floor and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as Sherlock straightened his jacket.

"What just happened?" I asked him as he walked into the kitchen.

"We're not taking the case" He said opening the fridge.

"Why not?" I asked him.

"Not interested" He said and closed the door.

"Okay, what are we going to do with him?" I asked him pointing at the unconscious man.

"Easy, toss him out" Sherlock said walking over to him, "Could you grab his feet?"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the man's feet, while Sherlock lifted him up from the armpits. We walked down the stairs and into an alley a few blocks away. Sherlock and I tossed him into a trash bin, before going back to the flat.

"So where's John?" I asked Sherlock sitting down on the couch.

"He went shopping. Should be back soon" Sherlock said grabbing a book and sitting in his chair.

I nodded my head and stood up from the couch. I walked upstairs to my room and grabbed my journal. I walked back into the living room and curled up on the couch. I opened it up and began to write about my day.

"What are you writing?" Sherlock asked not looking up from his book.

"What happened today. It's my journal" I told him.

"Dull" He said turning a page of his book.

I rolled my eyes and kept writing, until John walked into the room.

"Hello John" I said looking up at him.

"You took your time" Sherlock said.

"Yeah, I didn't get the shopping" John told him.

"What? Why not? Sherlock asked looking up at him.

"Because I had a row in the shop with a chip and pin machine" He said.

"You had a row with a machine?" Sherlock asked him.

How can someone have a row with a machine? I know they were sometimes difficult to use.

"Sort of. It sat there and I shouted abuse. Have you got cash?" John asked him.

"Take my card" Sherlock told him nodding towards the kitchen.

John began to walk to the kitchen, but stopped and turned to Sherlock.

"You could always go yourself. You know you've been sitting there all morning. You've not even moved since I left" John told him.

I beg to differ about that, I thought to myself as I wrote about my session with Ella.

"What happened about that case you were offered, the Jaria diamond?" John asked from inside the kitchen.

"Not interested" Sherlock told him shutting his book and scooting the sword under his chair further, "Maria and I sent them a message"

I could hear John letting out a sigh and leaving the flat. I began to giggle and shook my head.

"I can't believe you didn't tell him about the fight" I told him.

"He'd get worried about it, and complain some more or he wouldn't believe it all" Sherlock said and grabbed John's laptop.

Twenty minutes had passed since John left. I finished writing in my journal. Sherlock was still on John's laptop doing whatever he was doing on it. So now I was sweeping the place, feeling bored.

"Don't worry about me, I can manage" John said walking up the stairs with the shopping.

I set the broom against the wall and rushed over to him taking a couple of the bags. He thanked me as we walked to the kitchen. I set the bags onto the table and began to put the food away.

"Is that my computer?" John asked Sherlock.

"Of course" Sherlock told him.

"What?" John asked.

"Play nice boys" I told them as I put away the milk and other refrigerated items.

"Mine was in the bedroom" Sherlock told him.

"What, and you couldn't be bothered to get up? It's password protected" John told him.

"In a manner of speaking. Took me less than a minute to guess yours. Not exactly Fort Knox" Sherlock told him.

"Right, thank you" John told Sherlock and took his laptop from him.

I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes. They acted like children sometimes.

"If you two keep acting this way, I'm going to have to put you in time out!" I told them jokingly as John sat in his chair.

"I need to get a job" John said.

He must have seen the bills.

"Oh, dull" Sherlock said.

"Everything's dull to you" I told him throwing away the empty plastic bags.

"Listen" John told Sherlock as I walked into the room, "if you'd be able to lend me some"

John paused looking at Sherlock. I too looked at him. He looked like a frozen statue thinking.

"Sherlock, are you listening?" John asked him.

"I need to go to the bank. Come on Maria" Sherlock said as sirens could be heard from outside.

Sherlock stood up, walked over to the door grabbed his coat and was off again. I let out a sigh and followed after him quickly, wondering what we're going to be getting into now.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

We walked through a big fancy looking bank. I was a little amazed at the design of the building.

"Yes, when you said we were going to the bank" John began, but stopped seeing that Sherlock wasn't listening.

We got on the escalator and went up onto the second floor. We followed Sherlock over to the help desks.

"Sherlock Holmes" He told a woman.

The woman nodded and called someone on a phone. We were soon shown to a room, where a man came walking in.

"Sebastian" Sherlock said shaking the man's hand.

"How are you, buddy? How long's it been, eight years since I last clapped eyes on you?" Sebastian asked him.

"This is my friend, John Watson" Sherlock told him.

"Friend?" Sebastian asked.

"Colleague" John told him and the two shook hands.

Sebastian then turned to me.

"And who's this lovely woman? Your girlfriend, Sherlock?" Sebastian asked.

"My assistant, Maria Walkens" Sherlock told him.

"Ah, well it's nice to meet you" He said shaking my hand.

"You too" I told him and he walked to his desk.

"Grab a pew" He told us, "Do you need anything? Coffee, water? No?"

We sat down in front of his desk.

"So, you're doing well. You've been abroad a lot" Sherlock told the man.

"Well, some" The man said.

"Flying all the way round the world, twice in a month" Sherlock told him.

"Right" Sebastian chuckled, "You're doing that thing. We were at uni together and this guy here had a trick he used to do"

"It's not a trick" Sherlock told him.

"He could look at you and tell you your whole life story" Sebastian told us.

"Yes, we've seen him do it" John told him.

"And it's amazing every time" I told him.

"Put the wind up everybody. We hated him. You'd come down to breakfast in the formal hall and this freak would know you'd been shagging the previous night" Sebastian said.

"I simply observed" Sherlock told him.

"Go on, enlighten me" Sebastian said, "Two trips a month flying all the way around the world. You're quite right. How could you tell? You're going to tell me there was a stain on my tie from special kind of ketchup you can only buy in Manhattan?"

This guy was a jerk. I didn't like him one bit.

"No, I" Sherlock began, but Sebastian cut him off.

"Or it was the mud on my shoes?" He finished.

"Rude much?" I muttered under my breath.

"I was just chatting with your secretary outside. She told me" Sherlock told him

Sebastian began to laugh and clapped his hand.

"I'm glad you could make it over. We've had a break in" Sebastian told us, "If you'll follow me, I'll show you the scene of the crime"

Sebastian got up and walked out of the room with us following after him.

"Sir William's office, the bank's former chairman. His room has been left here like a sort of memorial. Someone broke in late last night" Sebastian told us as we followed him.

"What did they steal?" I asked him.

"Nothing. They just left a little message" He told me and opened the door to the office.

We walked into the room. I stopped seeing the yellow paint markings that was on the wall and portrait. Sebastian then showed us the security footage.

"60 seconds apart" He said pressing a few buttons on the keyboard.

The video showed the office with the paint, and then without it and back again.

"So someone came up here in the middle of the night, splashed paint around and left within a minute" Sebastian told us.

"How many ways into that office?" Sherlock asked him.

"Well, that's where this gets really interesting" Sebastian said and then took us to where we first went to here, "Every door that opens in this bank, it gets logged right here. Every walk in cupboard, every toilet"

"That door didn't open last night?" Sherlock asked.

"There's a hole in our security. Find it and we'll pay you. Five figures" He said and my eyes went wide, "This is an advance. Tell me how he got in, there's a bigger one on its way"

"I don't need an incentive, Sebastian" Sherlock told him and I shook my head as he walked off.

He could be an idiot sometimes, I thought to myself as I followed after him. I'm sure John would take care of the money.

In the office Sherlock took pictures of the markings with his phone.

"What could it mean?" I asked him as he stared out a window.

"I don't know" He said and walked over to the window.

Sherlock raised the blinds and opened the window. He stepped outside on the ledge, and I slowly walked over towards him.

"You think the man climbed up here?" I asked Sherlock as I stood next to him.

"It's possible" Sherlock said looking around.

Sherlock then walked back inside. I turned around and was about to inside also, but my foot slip.

"Sherlock!" I screamed as I began to fall backwards.

Sherlock quickly grabbed my hand pulling me to him. He wrapped his arm around while I latched onto him afraid to let go.

"It's alright. You're safe" He said looking down at me.

"I'm safe" I said letting go of Sherlock.

Sherlock shut the window and looked at me.

"Are you okay?" He asked and I nodded.

"I think so" I told him.

"Good. Well you should, uh, probably buy a different pair of shoes. So you don't end up falling again. Especially from this high up" He told me.

"Yeah. I'll do that later" I told him and coughed as an awkward silent went over us, "Well thank you for saving me"

"You're welcome" He said and then left the room.

I took a deep breath and exhaled, before stepping out of the office. I stopped by the door seeing Sherlock starting to run around and popping up in different spots always facing towards the office. I saw him take something off of a door. I walked over to him to see if he figured something out.

"What is that?" I asked him.

"It's who that message was for" He said and walked away, "Come on, Maria"

Sherlock and I found John and then left the bank with Sherlock telling us that the messages was left for someone. Someone named Edward Van Coon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

We got a taxi and went to Van Coon's flat. Sherlock pressed the buzzer twice with no answer.

"He must not be home" I said.

"What do we do now?" John asked Sherlock, "Sit here and wait for him to come back?"

"Just moved in" He told us.

"Huh?" I said confused.

"What?" John asked him.

"Floor above, new label" He told us pointing at a buzzer with Wintle written next to it.

"Could have just replaced it" John said.

"No one ever does that" Sherlock told him after pressing the buzzer.

"Hello?" A woman asked from the intercom.

"Hi! I live in the flat just below you. I don't think we've met" Sherlock told her acting like a different person. It was sort of creepy seeing him act like that.

"No, well, I've just moved in" The woman told him.

"Actually I just locked my keys in my flat" He told her.

"You want me to buzz you in?" She asked him.

"Yeah, and can I use your balcony?" He asked her.

"What?" The woman asked.

A few minutes later Sherlock and I was on the woman's balcony. Sherlock looked at me.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked me.

I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now go on" I told him and he nodded climbing over the balcony.

He jumped down and walked inside. I did the same as him.

"See I didn't kill myself" I told him quietly as we walked into the kitchen.

Sherlock rolled his eyes and opened the refrigerated only show it filled with bottles of champagne. Sherlock closed the refrigerator door as John pressed the buzzer.

"Sherlock! Maria! Sherlock, you okay? Maria?" John asked through the intercom as Sherlock opened the bathroom door.

"Yeah, any time you feel like letting me in" John said as Sherlock tried to open a door, but it was locked.

"Strange" I said and took a step back when Sherlock busted the door opened.

I followed him into the room and gasped seeing the man, Edward Van Coon dead on his bed. That was something I wasn't expecting at all.

"Bullet through his brain. Might be suicide, but most likely murder" Sherlock said after looking at him, "Call Lestrade"

Sherlock then walked out of the room. I quickly got my phone out and dialed Uncle Greg's number.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey, Uncle Greg. Um, I'm on a case with Sherlock and John. We found a dead body. Might be a suicide, but Sherlock thinks it murder" I told him and gave him the address.

"Okay, we'll be right over. Make sure, he doesn't touch anything" Uncle Greg told me and hung up.

I put my phone away and looked at the body, before leaving the room. A few minutes later the flat was swarming with police officers.

"Do you think he'd lost a lot of money?" John asked Sherlock, "I mean suicide is pretty common among City boys"

"We don't know that it was suicide" Sherlock said bending down at the man's suitcase.

"Come on, the door was locked from the inside. You had to climb down the balcony" John said.

"Doesn't mean the killer couldn't" I told him.

"Been away three days, judging by the laundry" Sherlock said and stood up, "Look, at the case. There was something tightly packed inside it"

"Thanks, I'll take your word for it" John said.

"Problem?" Sherlock asked him.

"Yeah, I'm not desperate to root around some bloke's dirty underwear" John told him.

"Those symbols at the bank, the graffiti, why were they put there?" Sherlock asked walked around.

"It was some sort of code?" John asked.

"Could be" I said.

"Obviously" Sherlock said checking the mans pant pockets and coat, "Why were they painted? If you want to communicate, why not use email?"

"Well, maybe he wasn't answering" John said.

"Oh good, you follow" Sherlock told him as he continued to checked the man's coat.

"What kind of a message would everyone try to avoid?" Sherlock asked, "What about this morning, those letters you were looking at?"

"Bills?" John asked.

"A threat?" I asked

"Yes, he was being threatened" Sherlock said pulling something out of the man's mouth.

"What is that?" I asked him.

"Not by the gas board" John said as we watched Sherlock place the thing into a bag.

"Ah, Sergeant, we haven't met" Sherlock said to a man who walked into the room.

John and I turned to him.

"Yeah, I know who you are, and I'd prefer it if you didn't tamper with any of the evidence" The man told him and Sherlock handed him the bag.

The man kind of reminded me of a very much younger version of my Uncle.

"I phoned Lestrade. Is he on his way?" Sherlock asked him.

"He's busy" The man told him, "I'm in charge. And it's not Sergeant, it's Detective Inspector Dimmock"

Sherlock looked at John and I before following after Dimmock into the living room.

"We're obviously looking at a suicide" Dimmock said.

"That does seem the only explanation for all the facts" John said.

"Doubt it" I said.

"Wrong. It's one possible explanation of some of the facts" Sherlock said and looked at Dimmock, "You've got a solution that you like, but you're choosing to ignore anything you see that doesn't comply with it"

"Like?" Dimmock asked.

"The wound's on the right side of his head" Sherlock told him.

"And?" Dimmock said.

"Van Coon was left-handed. It requires quite a bit of contortion" Sherlock said and demonstrated.

"Left-handed?" Dimmock asked.

"I'm amazed you didn't notice. All you have to do is look around this flat" Sherlock told him, "Coffee table on the left-hand side, coffee mug handle pointing to the left. Power sockets habitually use the ones on the left. Pen and paper on the left-hand side of the phone because he picked it up with his right and took down messages with his left. Do you want to go on?"

"No, I think you've covered it" John told him.

"I might as well, I'm almost at the bottom of the list" Sherlock told him, "There's a knife on the breadboard with butter on the right side of the blade because he used it with his left. It's highly unlikely that a left-handed man would shoot himself in the right side of his head. Conclusion: someone broke in here and murdered him. Only explanation of all of the facts"

"But the gun" Dimmock began.

"He was waiting for the killer" I said and they looked at me, "What? I can't speak?"

"He'd been threatened" Sherlock told Dimmock while taking his gloves off.

"What?" Dimmock asked.

"Today at the bank. Sort of a warning" John explained.

"He fired a shot when his attacker came in" Sherlock told him as he put his coat on.

"And the bullet?" Dimmock asked.

"Went through the open window" Sherlock told him.

"Oh, come on! What are the chances of that?" Dimmock asked.

"Wait until you get the ballistics report. The bullet in his brain wasn't fired from his gun, I guarantee it" Sherlock told him.

"But is his door was locked from the inside, how did the killer get in?" Dimmock asked.

"Good. You're finally asking the right questions" Sherlock told him and left the room.

"The killer most likely came through the opened window" I told Dimmock before following after John and Sherlock.

"Were to now?" I asked Sherlock as we got into a taxi.

Sherlock didn't say anything as he looked out the window in thought.

The taxi stopped infront of a reasturant. We got out and I followed Sherlock inside with John trailing behind. I saw Sebastian eating and laughing with three men. Most likely buisness partners.

"It was a threat; that's what the graffiti meant" Sherlock told him as we walked over to them.

"I'm kind of in a meeting" Sebastian told him, "Can you make an appointment with my secretary?"

"I don't think this can wait. Sorry, Sebastian" Sherlock told him, "One of your traders, someone who works in your office, was killed"

"What?" Sebastian asked.

"Van Coon" I told him.

"The police are at his flat" John added.

"Killed?" Sebastian asked surprised.

"Sorry to interfer with everyone's digestion. Still want to make an appointment? Would maybe 9:00 at Scotland Yard suit?" Sherlock asked him.

"I need to go to the loo. Excuse me please" Sebastian said and got up.

Sherlock and John followed him into the mens restroom while I stood next to the door. I got a few strange looks from men going in and out. Even a couple of them winked at me. I rolled my eyes and just stared at the wall in front of me waiting for Sherlock and John.

I let out a sigh and stood up straighter when Sebastian walked out of the bathroom. A few seconds later Sherlock and John walked out of the bathroom.

"So what did he say?" I asked Sherlock as we got into the taxi.

"Van Coon worked in Asia for a bit. So they let him worked with the Hong Kong accounts" Sherlock told me as the cab drove us back to the flat.

"So who ever threatened Van Coon could have been an enemy that he made in Asia" I told them.

"Possible" Sherlock said and looked out the window in thought.

The rest of the ride was in silent, until John told us that he was going to go job hunting tomorrow. Sherlock stayed quiet looking out of the window.

"That's good. Any idea on what job?" I asked him.

"Something to do with medical. Maybe a pharmasist or something" He told me.

"Well good luck then" I told him.

"Yes, thank you" He said.

Once we got back to the flat my phone rang. I let out a sigh and looked at the screen. It was my father. I quickly walked out of living room and into the kitchen for a little privacy.

"Hey, dad" I said smiling answering it.

I was so happy to have him call. Today has been crazy, and it felt nice to hear a familir voice.

"Hello my little sugerplum! How's the London weather treatin' ya?" He asked me.

"It's treating me well" I told him, "How's everything back home?"

"Fine. Everyone misses ya. Especially little Tony" He told me.

Tony was this little boy that I babysitted once in a while for our neighbor when they went out on a date, or went to work.

"Tell Tony I miss him and to be a good little boy" I told him.

Dad chuckled and told me he would.

"So when are you going to come an' visit?" He asked me.

"I-I don't know. I've been real busy lately working for my boss. He's been having me do these errands " I told him.

I didn't know if I even wanted to go back to Dartmoor anytime soon.

"Right, well I hope he's paying you well for these 'errands'" Dad said with a little hinting in his voice.

"Dad! I'm not sleeping with Sherlock!" I shouted and I looked into the living room to see Sherlock staring at me with a blank look on his face, while John was snickering sitting in his chair.

"I'm not saying you are" He said and I could hear the grin that was on his face.

"Dad" I told him.

"Okay, I was, but to my defense it sounded like you was hinting like you were" He said.

"No I didn't" I told him.

"Well I'm sorry for thinking that you were. I just wish you'd find a husband and settle down. I want some grandchildren to spoil" He laughed.

"Well that won't be for a while, Dad" I told him.

"You may never know. You're living with two single men. Something might happen" He said and I rolled my eyes.

"Dad" I said sighing.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop" He said laughing, "Well I better get off. It's getting late"

"Okay, love you, Dad" I told him and hung up.

I let out a sigh shaking my head smiling while I put away my phone. I walked out of the kitchen feeling a little emberessed by the way John was chuckling a bit and Sherlock had his face stuck in a book.

"Well goodnight guys" I said and walked towards the stairs.

"Sweet Sherlock dreams" John called out.

"Not funny, John!" I shouted at him as I walked up the stairs with pink cheeks.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

**AN: Hi, I'm writing an original story. I posted the first chapter I have written and is curious if it's good. So if you wouldn't mind just check it out and leave a review on what you think or don't. **

**Www. fictionpress s/ 310 0840 / 1 /Love-Thy-Enemy (Just take out the spaces.)**

* * *

The next morning I was in the kitchen fixing breakfast. John walked into the kitchen with a folder and was dressed nicely.

"Going somewhere?" I asked him placing some sausage into a plate.

"Yeah, I'm going job hunting, remember?" John asked and I thought back yesterday.

"Oh! Yeah, I must of forgot. This case is something" I told him cracking an egg into the pan.

"Mm. I agree" He said pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"The toast is burning" Sherlock said from the living room where he was staring at the pictures of the marking from the bank.

I looked at the toaster and gasped. I un-plugged the toast and took out the two piece of charred bread. I let out a sigh and threw them away.

"My mother would had killed me if she had known I burnt toast. She always told me, toast was something I couldn't burn, but I beg to differ" I told John as I placed two pieces of bread in the toast.

"The eggs are burning now" Sherlock said.

"Today is not my day" I muttered quickly pulling the pan off the stove.

I turned the stove off and set the pan down.

"Okay, we're just having sausage and toast with coffee for breakfast boys" I told them and John just chuckled grabbing a sausage

"Can't stay and eat. I got an appointment soon" He said and left the kitchen, "Good sausage by the way, thank you!"

I smiled and picked up a sausage and took a bite from it. He was right. It was good. I walked to the fridge and grabbed a jug of orange juice and poured me a glass.

"Maria" Sherlock said as I took a sip of juice.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"The toast is burning again" He said and I let out a groan.

I turned to the toaster un-plugged it and threw it into the garbage.

"I guess it's just sausage and coffee" I said and let out a frustrated sigh, before walking out of the kitchen. I sat on the couch and grabbed my laptop. I began to play a game on it. About twenty minutes later Sherlock said something about a pen.

I looked up at him from the laptop and shook my head.

"Get your own pen" I told him still feeling a little angry about how I had burnt breakfast.

Sherlock kept quiet still looking at the pictures. I let out a sigh and went back to searching up about that symbol. So far I had gotten nothing on it. I'm not even sure it meant anything! It could be graffiti for all we know.

"Sherlock" I said frowning as I clicked on a link that my Uncle had sent me.

"Yes?" He asked turning his head sideways to look at me.

"Come have a look at this" I told him

Sherlock stood up and sat next to me on the couch. I handed him the laptop and he read the article called _'Ghostly killer leaves a mystery for police'_.

"I think our killer killed another" I told him and he nodded handing me the laptop.

He stood up and began to pace again.

"Why would he kill this one? This Brian Lukis must have something common with Van Coon!" Sherlock said.

"Maybe they worked with each other?" I said.

"No, Lukis was a freelance journalist. It's right there in the article" Sherlock said and sat down in his chair and went back to looking at the photos.

I let out a sigh and went back to searching. This time on Brian Lukis. Forty minutes went by when John walked into the flat. Before I could say anything to him Sherlock spoke up.

"I said could you pass me a pen?" Sherlock asked him.

"So lazy" I muttered and glared at the back of his head.

"What, when?" He asked looking around.

"About an hour ago" Sherlock told him.

"Didn't notice I'd gone out then?" John asked him grabbing a pen and tossing it to him, "I went to see about a job at that surgery" John continued as he looked at the pictures above the fireplace.

"How was it?" Sherlock asked him.

"Great, she's great" John told him.

She? I smiled at that. He fancied someone. Oh it's going to be fun teasing him about it like he teased me last night! Oh revenge never smelt any sweeter!

"She?" I asked him with a teasing tone.

"Who?" Sherlock asked him.

"The job" He said looking at us.

"She?" Sherlock asked him.

"It" John told him.

"Come now, John. Don't be shy, tell us who she is" I told him.

"I meant the job" He said stuttering a bit.

"Here, have a look" Sherlock said nodding his head towards the laptop.

I set the laptop on the table so John could read it.

"The intruder who can walk through walls" John read.

"Happened last night. Journalist shot dead in his flat. Doors locked, windows bolted from the inside. Exactly the same as Van Coon" Sherlock told him.

"God, you think..." John began looking at Sherlock.

"He's killed another one" Sherlock told him.

Sherlock sat there for a few minutes until standing up and leaving quickly. John and I followed after him wondering what he was doing now. We got into the cab and it took us to Scotland Yard. Sherlock walked straight to Dimmock's desk.

"Brian Lukis, freelance journalist, murdered in his flat, doors locked from the inside" Sherlock said turning the laptop to Dimmock so he could see the article.

"You've got to admit, it's similar. Both men killed by someone who can walk through solid walls" John told him.

"Inspector, so you seriously believe that Eddie Van Coon was just another city suicide?" Sherlock asked him and let out a sigh before continuing, "You have seen the ballistics report, I suppose?"

"Mm hmmm" Dimmock said nodding his head.

"And the shot that killed him was it fired from his own gun?" Sherlock asked him.

"No" Dimmock told him.

"No. So, this investigation might move a bit quicker if you were to take my word as gospel" Sherlock told him and bent down to him, "I've just handed you a murder inquiry. Five minutes in his flat"

"All right, but just five minutes" Dimmock told him.

Sherlock stood up and nodded his head.

"Thank you" I told him and we left for Lukis's flat.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

Brian Lukis was a messy man. That was what I first thought as we walked into the dead man's flat. There was clothes all over the place. Some was hanging from the staircase banister.

"Defiantly can tell he was single and lived alone" I said looking around the room and spotted a black folded piece of paper in the shape of a flower.

It was the same thing that Sherlock had pulled from Van Coon's mouth. So the killers were the same, but why would they kill Van Coon and Lukis? It was strange and it didn't make sense. Especially that symbol. I did a quick glance around the flat to see if the killer had left a symbol, but there was nothing, so why did the killer leave a symbol for Van Coon, but no Lukis? Unless the symbol was somewhere else! Somewhere that Lukis would be able to find it.

"Four floors up" Sherlock said as he looked out the window, "That's why they think they're safe. Put a chain across the door, bolt it shut, think they're impregnable. They don't reckon for one second that there's another way in"

"I don't understand" Dimmock said as Sherlock walked into a different room.

"We're dealing with a killer who can climb" Sherlock said.

"Something like parkour?" I asked as I followed them.

"What are you doing?" Dimmock asked as Sherlock looked out a skylight.

"He clings to the walls like an insect. That's how he got in" Sherlock said opening it.

"What?" Dimmock asked.

"He climbed up the side of the walls, ran along the roof, dropped in through this skylight" Sherlock told him.

"You're not serious. Like Spider-Man?" Dimmock asked.

"That's crazy Inspector, Spider-Man is in Manhattan, what would he be doing in England?" I told him.

"He scaled six floors of a Docklands apartment building, and jumped the balcony to kill Van Coon" Sherlock told him.

"Hold on!" Dimmock said.

"And of course that's how he got into the bank. He ran along the window ledge and onto the terrace. We have to find out what connects these two men" Sherlock said and walked down the stairs to a stack of books.

He picked one up and looked at he for a second before leaving. We rode the taxi in silence as it drove to the library. Once at the library we walked up the escalators quickly and over to the help desk. The kind old librarian scanned the book for us and told us which isle it came from.

"The date stamped on the book is the same day that he died" Sherlock said as we walked down the isle.

Sherlock then began to take books of the shelves and looked at them. I did the same and turned when John called mine and Sherlock's name. Sherlock turned to John and moved the books away handed them to me to hold. I looked at the shelf and then at Sherlock who was staring at the symbol.

Sherlock got his phone out and took a few pictures of it, before setting the books back. We soon left the library and was standing in front of the fireplace staring at the pictures.

"So the killer goes to the bank, leaves a threatening cipher for Van Coon. Van Coon panics, returns to his apartment, locks himself in. Hours later, he dies" Sherlock said.

"The killer finds Lukis at the library. He writes the cipher on the shelf where he knows it'll be seen. Lukis goes home" John said.

"Later that night he dies, too" Sherlock said.

"Why did they die, Sherlock?" I asked him.

"Only the cipher can tell us" Sherlock said touching a picture, "I think I know someone who might know something about this. Come on"

We left the flat took a cab and got out of it by a fountain. John and I walked next to him.

"The world runs on codes and ciphers, John, Maria. From the million pound security system at the bank to the pin machine you took exception to, cryptography inhabits our every waking moment" Sherlock told us.

"Yes, okay, but..." John said.

"But it's all computer generated electronic codes, electronic ciphering methods. This is different" He told us as we walked towards a museum, "It's an ancient device. Modern code-breaking methods won't unravel it"

"Where are we headed?" John asked him.

"I need to ask some advice" Sherlock told him and I looked at him shocked by his words.

He needed advice? He? Sherlock Holmes? The man who knows everything? It was shocking!

"What? Sorry?" John asked him.

"You heard me perfectly; I'm not saying it again" Sherlock told him.

"You need advice" I said.

"On painting, yes. I need to talk to an expert" He said walking towards the side of the museum.

"Wouldn't it be better if we went to the museum for help? They deal with old stuff and the symbol seemed old" I told him.

"Not now, Maria" Sherlock said as we walked behind a building.

There was a young man, or maybe it was a teenager spraying paint on the side of the building.

"Part of my new exhibition" The man said spraying the door.

The man was painting a police officer. It was actually good.

"Interesting" Sherlock said digging into his trench coat.

"I call it "urbanbloodlustfrenzy." The man said.

"Good name for this, um, piece of art" I said.

"Catchy" John said.

"I've got two minutes before a Community Support Officer comes around that corner" He said and looked at Sherlock, "Could we do this while I'm working?"

Sherlock held his phone out the guy. He tossed the spray can to John, who caught it. The man took the phone from Sherlock and looked at it.

"Know the author?" Sherlock asked him as the guy scrolled through the pictures.

"Recognize the paint" He said, "Looks like Michigan hardcore propellant. I'd say zinc"

"What about the symbols, do you recognize them?" Sherlock asked him.

"Not even sure it's a proper language" He said.

"Two men have been murdered, Raz. Deciphering this is the key to finding out who killed them" Sherlock told the guy.

"What, and this is all you've got to go on?" He asked, "It's hardly much now, is it?"

"Are you going to help us or not? Sherlock asked him.

"I'll ask around" He said nodding his head.

"Somebody must know something about it" Sherlock said.

"Oy!" A voice shouted causing me to jump.

We looked towards the sound and saw two officers running towards us. Before I could even think, Sherlock grabbed my wrist and dragged me away leaving John alone who stood there with a can of paint, while Raz ran away.

"We shouldn't have left him back there" I told Sherlock once we got away from the building.

"He'll be fine" Sherlock said and I shook my head laughing a bit.

"Oh I can't believe that just happened. Man this job is fun, except the part where people are dying" I told him and the corner of his lips twitched upwards a bit.

"Yes, I suppose it is fun" Sherlock said and called a taxi.

We rode back to the flat. Sherlock went to the mantel looking at the notes, while I went into the kitchen to fix me some lunch. I had asked Sherlock if he wanted any, but he told me that he doesn't eat while on a case it messes with his digestion.

"Weird" I muttered walking into the kitchen.

I was making a cup of tea when the door slam shut. I jumped spilling some of the tea onto the counter. I let out a sigh, set the kettle down and wiped the tea up as Sherlock spoke to John.

"-you know how it is. Custody sergeants don't really like to be hurried, do they? Just formalities, fingerprints, charge sheet and I've got to be in magistrates court on Tuesday" John said.

"What?" Sherlock said looking up at a note.

"Me, Sherlock, in court on Tuesday. They're giving me an ASBO" John told him angrily.

"Good, fine" Sherlock told him.

"You want to tell your little pal he's welcome to go and own up any time" John told him.

"I could probably ask my Uncle to get you out of it" I told him walking into the room with my sandwich and cup of tea.

"This symbol, I still can't place it" Sherlock said setting the pieces of paper down and walking over to John, "No, I need you to go to the police station and ask about the journalist. His personal effects will have been impounded. Get a hold of his diary or something that will tell us his movements"

I let out a sigh taking a few big bites of my sandwich and drinking the tea quickly. I followed after Sherlock regretting on drinking the hot tea so quickly.

"Maria and I will go and see Van Coon's PA. If we retrace their steps, somewhere they'll coincide" Sherlock told John as we walked out of the flat.

Sherlock then began to walk down the sidewalk. I walked quickly behind him so I wouldn't lose him in the crowd.

"You shouldn't treat John like that. One day he won't be here" I told Sherlock as we walked.

He kept quiet as we walked. I let out a sigh.

"He's your friend and you should treat him as such" I continued, "The same goes for me too, but you do treat me differently than you do John. Why is that?"

"You talk a lot" He told me and I glared at him.

"And you talk to little" I told him.

Sherlock remained silent and I rolled my eyes. He just didn't want to answer my question. Which would had been most likely, because I'm female and was weak according to every male in the world, especially to my Uncle. He thinks I'm made out of glass and could break any moment!

"He flew back from Dalian Friday" Van Coon's PA told us once we made it to the bank, "Looks like he had back-to-back meetings with the state team"

"Can you print me off a copy?" Sherlock asked her.

"Please" I pipped in.

"Sure" She said looking at Sherlock, then me and back to the computer.

"What about the day he died? Can you tell me where he was?" Sherlock asked pointing at the screen.

"Sorry, bit of a gap" She said, "I have all his receipts"

"Show me" Sherlock said and the woman nodded her head and got out his receipts.

"Here they are" She said placing them onto her desk.

"What kind of a boss was he, Amanda? Appreciative?" Sherlock asked the woman.

"No. That's not a word I'd use" She told us as Sherlock bent down to look at the receipts, "The only things Eddie appreciated had a big price tag"

"Like that hand cream?" Sherlock asked her and I glanced at the hand cream on her desk,"He bought that for you, didn't he?"

What was Sherlock going on about hand cream for? He was suppose to be going on about those receipts, but knowing Sherlock that hand cream had to be important some how.

"Look at this one" Sherlock said holding up a card.

I took it and looked at the thing with Amanda looking over my shoulder at it. The card was a licensed taxi receipt with the date that Van Coon had died, the time of 10:35 and the amount of money he spent with it signed.

"Got a taxi from home on the day he died, 18.50" Sherlock told us.

"That would get him to the office" Amanda told us.

"Not rush hour, check the time mid-morning. Eighteen would him as far as..." Sherlock said.

"The West End" Amanda said, "I remember him saying"

"Underground, printed at 1:00 in Piccadilly" Sherlock said holding out a card.

Amanda took it this time and looked at it.

"So he got a tube back to the office?" She questioned.

"Why would he get a taxi into town and then tube back?" I asked.

"Because he was delivering something heavy. You don't want to lug a package up the escalator" Sherlock answered.

"Delivering?" Amanda asked him.

"To somewhere near Piccadilly Station. Dropped the package, delivered it, and then" Sherlock told her standing up looking at another receipt, "He stopped on his way"

"At the Piazza Espresso Bar Italiano?" I asked looking at the receipt in his hand.

"He got peckish" Sherlock said and grabbed my wrist, before dragging me out of the office.

Sherlock got a taxi and pulled me inside. Sherlock was muttering something under his breath, until we got to our destination. We got out of the cab and I followed Sherlock as he thought out loud.

"So you bought your lunch from here en route to the station, but where were you headed from? Where did the taxi drop you" Sherlock said spinning around.

"Sherlock, watch out for..." I said quickly, but it was to late Sherlock had bumped into John.

"Eddie Van Coon brought a package here the day he died, whatever was hidden inside that case" Sherlock told him as I walked over to the two, "I've managed to piece together a picture using scraps of information, credit card bills, receipts. He flew back from China, then he came here"

"Sherlock" John said, but Sherlock didn't hear him because he was still speaking and looking around.

"Somewhere in this street, somewhere near. I don't know where, but" Sherlock continued.

"That shop over there" John said pointing to a shop across the street.

Sherlock and I looked across the street to see a Chinese shop.

"How could you tell?" Sherlock asked him.

"Lukis's diary. He was here, too. He wrote down the address" John told us.

"So we found out what they had in common. That shop" I said and followed John over to the shop.

"Oh" Sherlock said followed after us.

We walked into the building.

"Hello" John said to the old woman working the cashier as we began to look around.

I began to walk around the shop looking at the small dolls, tea cups, paintings and vases that was around the shop. I stopped walking when I saw the stone figurines that

"You want lucky cat?" The old woman asked holding up a golden cat who was moving it's arm up and down.

"No. Thanks, no" John told the woman.

"Ten pound, ten pound" She told us, "I think your wife, she will like"

"W-We're not married" John said pointing at himself and then me.

"I was not speaking to you. I was speaking to him" The woman told John nodding her head at Sherlock.

"No thank you" Sherlock said looking at the small figurine in the window.

I walked around looking at the mini statues. I touched one and let out a gasp when it began to fall. Before I could try to catch it Sherlock had already done so.

"Better be careful, that would had cost you half the rent" He said pointing at the price tag.

My eyes went wide and I took a step back from the statues.

"Thank you" I told him looking up at him.

Sherlock nodded and placed the statue back on the shelf.

"Sherlock? Maria?" John said and we walked over to him, "The label there"

"Yes, I see it" Sherlock said looking at the label.

"Exactly the same as the cipher" I said quietly so we wouldn't be over heard.

We left the shop a few seconds later.

"It's an ancient number system, Hang Zhou. These days only street traders use it. Those were numbers written on the wall at the bank and at the library. Numbers written in an ancient Chinese dialect" Sherlock said as we walked away from the shop.

"It's a 15" John said as Sherlock began to search through lotus roots, "What we thought was the artist's tag, it's a number 15" John said.

"And the blindfold, the horizontal line, that was a number as well" Sherlock said holding up a piece of paper.

"It's a one" I said.

"Yes, the Chinese number one" Sherlock said.

"We've found it" John said.

"Of course we did" I told him before following Sherlock.

"Can we get some lunch and talk over what we just found out?" I told him.

Sherlock nodded his head and we went to the cafe across the Lucky Cat shop, where we had just been.

"Two men travel back from China. Both head straight for the Lucky Cat Emporium. What did they see?" John asked.

"It's not what they saw. It's what they both brought back in those suitcases" Sherlock said.

"You don't think duty free?" John asked as a waitress with our food came over placing two plates onto the table.

John and I thanked her and began to eat.

"Think about what Sebastian told us about Van Coon, about how he stayed afloat in the market" Sherlock said.

"He lost five million" John told him.

"Made it back in a week" Sherlock said and I nearly chocked on my food.

Sherlock began to pat my back, until I stopped him to get a drink of water. How could someone make five million in one week? He must have been trafficking drugs or something.

"That's how he made such easy money" Sherlock said.

"He was a smuggler" I said and John nodded taking a bite out of his food.

"A guy like him, it would have been perfect. A businessman, making frequent trips to Asia. Lukis was the same, a journalist writing about China. Both of them smuggled stuff out. The Lucky Cat was their drop off" Sherlock told us as he looked out the window at the Lucky Cat.

"Why did they die? It doesn't make sense. If they both turned up at the shop and delivered the goods, why would someone threaten them and kill them after the event, after they finished the job?" John asked him.

"What if one of them was light-fingered?" Sherlock asked.

"How do you mean?" John asked.

"Stole something, something from the hoard" Sherlock said.

"And the killer doesn't know which of them took it" John said.

"So they threatens them both and kills them" I said.

"Remind me, when was the last time that it rained?" Sherlock asked getting up.

I let out a sigh and shoved some of the food in my mouth chewing quickly. When can I ever finish a nice meal when we're on a case? I followed Sherlock sipping on my glass of water. When I was close to the door I set my glass on someone's table apologizing quickly and followed Sherlock out the door with John close behind.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

**AN: I will be updating this story every Friday now. **

* * *

I followed Sherlock across the street to a building. He bent down at the front door checking the phone book that was wet with rain water.

"That's been here since Monday" Sherlock said and pressed the buzzer.

No one answered, so Sherlock walked to an alley next to the building. I followed after him with John.

"No one's been in that flat for at least three days" Sherlock told us as we walked.

"They've gone on holiday" John said.

"Do you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?" Sherlock asked stopping and turning around to reveal a fire escape leading to the flat.

"No" I said as Sherlock jumped pulling the ladder down and climbing up it.

I quickly grabbed the ladder and climbed up it after him leaving John down below. I would had held the ladder down for John to get, but I was afraid that I would fall, since I had bad luck with ladders and heights.

"Sorry John" I told him before going after Sherlock.

"Sherlock! Maria!" John whispered as I walked over to Sherlock.

"Getting a little clumsy are we now?" I asked him as he caught a vase that he knocked over.

He shh'd me looking up from the floor slowly and back to the window.

"Someone else has been here" He shouted so John could hear, "Somebody else broke into the flat and knocked over the vase, just like I did"

Sherlock glanced around before opening the dryer and pulling out a shirt sniffing it. He tossed it back in and closed the door as a doorbell rung.

"Think you could might let me in this time?" John asked as Sherlock looked around.

"Aren't you going to let him?" I asked Sherlock.

"Can you not keep doing this, please?" John asked him.

"Well?" I told Sherlock as he sniffed some rotten milk.

"Serve's you right" I told him snickering and stopped.

"We're not the first" Sherlock said.

"What?" John asked.

"Am I going to have to let him in?" I asked Sherlock.

"Somebody's been in here before us" Sherlock shouted .

"What are you saying?" John asked.

"Size eight feet. Small but athletic" Sherlock said checking the rug.

The doorbell began to ring again. I let out a sigh.

"I'll go and let him in then" I told Sherlock walking out of the room.

I stopped and let out a gasp seeing a man in the room. He quickly ran over to me. I jumped over a table and tried to get to the door, but the man grabbed me. He tossed me to the ground and quietly ran to the room that Sherlock was in. I got up and ran into the room to find the man choking Sherlock.

"Any time you want to include me!" John said.

"John!" Sherlock grunted, "Maria!"

I grabbed a vase and hit it over the man's head. It didn't phase him one bit as it shattered. The man looked at me and used his feet to trip me. I fell onto my back with my head slamming on to the ground. I laid there for a second seeing stars. I shook my head as I got up. I stumbled a bit feeling dizzy with a head ache.

I looked over to see Sherlock laying still. My eyes went wide as the man placed something into Sherlock's pocket. I grabbed another vase and chucked at the man as he ran. The vase smashed into the wall beside him.

"Sherlock!" I said quickly rushing to him as he awoke coughing, "Just breath. Deep breaths"

"Just calm down, relax, you're okay" I told him as he breathed.

Sherlock then checked his pocket and pulled out a black paper flower. He then stood up and walked away as if that didn't just happened. I placed a hand on my forehead as I followed him.

"Oh I am so going to take break after this" I told him.

"The milk's gone bad, and the washing's started to smell" Sherlock told John with a croaky voice after opening the door, "Somebody left here in a hurry three days ago"

"Somebody?" John asked.

"Soo Lin Yao. We have to find her" Sherlock said.

"How, exactly?" John asked him.

"Well, you could start with this" Sherlock said holding up an envelope.

"You've gone all croaky. Are you getting a cold?" John asked him as we walked.

"I'm fine" Sherlock told him coughing.

"Yeah! I'm fine also. Thanks for wondering!" I told them before calling a taxi.

"What's wrong with her?" John asked.

"I think it's her time of the month" Sherlock said and I glared at my two flatmates as a cab stopped in front of me.

We left the place to the museum that Soo Lin worked at. Sherlock walked up to a man and began talking to him, until he showed us to a giant room with ancient Chinese artifacts.

"When was the last time that you her?" Sherlock asked the man named Andy.

"Three days ago, here at the museum" Andy told him, "This morning, they told me she had resigned, just like that. Just left her work unfinished"

"What was the last thing that she did on her final afternoon?" Sherlock asked turning to Andy.

"Follow me, please" Andy said and walked out of the room.

I followed behind Sherlock and John looking at the paintings and statues in the rooms that we walked through. We walked through a set of doors leading to a dark room. Andy turned the light on and continued into the bright white room.

"She does this demonstration for the tourists, a tea ceremony. So she would have packed up her things and just put them in here" Andy told us and began to turn a handle.

I looked at Sherlock as he began to walk away from us. I followed him over to a statue seeing the cipher painted on it. The killer was after her too? Or he had already got her and the police hadn't found her body yet.

"John, Maria time to go" Sherlock said quickly walking away.

I turned to Andy thanking him for the help and ran to catch up with Sherlock. We walked out of the museum quickly.

"We have to get to Soo Lin Yao" Sherlock said.

"If she's still alive" John said.

"Which she probably isn't" I told them and stopped when Raz shouted for Sherlock.

"Look who it is" John said seeing the man running towards us.

"I've found something you'll like" Raz said breathlessly.

We followed Raz away from the museum to an under ground skate park that was covered by tags and painting.

"If you want to hide a tree, then a forest is the best place to do it, wouldn't you say? People would just walk straight past not knowing, unable to decipher the message" Sherlock said as Raz lead us over to a wall.

"There" Raz said pointing at a wall, "I spotted it earlier"

"And that's the exact same paint?" Sherlock asked him.

"Yeah" Raz said.

"John, Maria, if we're going to decipher this code, we're going to need to look for more evidence" Sherlock said and we soon left the area.

I walked around with a torch hating that I was all alone. I walked around looking for anything. I tripped over a rail and scraped my knee. I let out a hiss and shined the light on to my knee to see it scraped and bleeding.

"Great! Me and my stupid clumsiness!" I said and took off my scarf that I wore.

I wrapped it around my knee and tied it before standing up. I grabbed my torch and began to limp around the area. I saw someone running away quickly from a wall. I ran to the area ignoring the pain in my knee. I stopped and shined the light at the area the person was running too.

I couldn't see anything and let out a sigh. I shone the light onto the wall to see that it was painted blue. I could smell a strong scent of fresh paint and walked over to it. I touched it and looked at my finger tips. There was wet paint.

"Maria?" John said sounding shock to find me there.

"I think this wall is important. Someone ran away from it quickly and it's covered in fresh blue paint" I said pointing at the wall, only to be ignored.

"It's been painted over" John said looking at the wall.

"So I am right" I muttered as Sherlock looked around.

"I don't understand" John said, "It-it was here. Ten minutes ago. I saw it. A whole lot of graffiti"

"Somebody doesn't want me to see it" Sherlock said and pressed both of his hands on each side of John's head.

"Sherlock, what are you?" John began.

"Sherlock?" I asked.

"Shh! John, concentrate. I need you to concentrate. Close your eyes" Sherlock told him.

"What? Why? Why?" John asked him, "What are you doing?"

"He probably has gone mental" I said as Sherlock began to spin John around.

"I need you to maximize your visual memory. Try to picture what you saw. Can you picture it?" Sherlock told him.

"Yeah" John told him.

"Can you remember it?"

"Yes, definitely"

"Can you remember the pattern?"

"Yes"

"Sherlock, maybe you should let him go?" I said.

"How much can you remember it?" Sherlock asked John.

"Well, don't worry" John told him, but Sherlock cut him off.

"Because the average human memory on visual matters is only 62% accurate" Sherlock told him.

"Yeah, well, don't worry, I remember all of it" John told him.

"Really?" Sherlock asked.

"Yeah, well, at least I would if can get to my pockets" John told him getting loose of Sherlock's hold, "I took a photograph"

John pulled out his cell phone and turned it on, showing Sherlock the photo. I stood next to Sherlock looking at the photo. There were a lot of symbols. It made my head spin just thinking about them. Oh, I am so going to take a break after this case.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

I was falling asleep on the couch as Sherlock stood in front of the mantel looking at the photos of the ciphers.

"Always in pairs, John, Maria, look" Sherlock said snapping John and I from our dozing off.

"Hmm?" John said opening his eyes.

"What?" I asked sitting up looking at him.

"Numbers come with partners" Sherlock said with his hands on his hip.

I don't know if it was the sleep making me think this, but he looked really nice standing like that.

"God, I need to sleep" I said falling back onto the couch.

"Me too" John agreed.

"Why did he paint it so near the tracks?" Sherlock asked.

"No idea" John told him.

"Maybe for the thousands of people who pass by there to see it?" I told him staring at the ceiling.

"Just 20 minutes" John said.

"Of course. Of course! He wants information. He's trying to communicate with his people in the underworld. Whatever was stolen, he wants it back. And it's somewhere here, in a code. Oh, Maria you are a genius!" Sherlock said and began to take the pictures off of the wall, "We can't crack this without Soo Lin Yao"

"Oh, good" John said.

I let out a sigh and sat up. I rubbed my hands over my eyes and shook my head. I don't think I will be getting any sleep any time soon.

Sherlock, John and I took a cab to the museum where we met Andy.

"Two men who traveled back from China were murdered, and their killer left them messages in Hang Zhou numerals" Sherlock told Andy as I sipped on my cup of coffee.

"Soo Lin Yao is in danger. That cipher, it was just the same pattern as the others. He means to kill her as well" John told him.

"Look, I've tried everywhere, friends, colleagues. I don't know where she's gone. I mean, she could be a thousand miles away" Andy told us.

"What are you looking at?" John asked Sherlock.

"Tell me more about those teapots" Sherlock said to Andy.

"The pots were her obsession. They need urgent work. If they dry out, then the clay can start to crumble. Apparently you have to just keep making tea in them" Andy told us.

"Yesterday, only one of those pots was shining. Now there are two" Sherlock said.

"That means someone is still using them" I said.

"Maybe it's Soo Lin Yao? She could be sneaking in at night to work on them" John said and Sherlock nodded his head.

That night at the museum Sherlock, John and I stayed hidden until Soo Lin Yao appeared. John and I followed Sherlock quietly into the room she was in. John and I stood by the doors, while Sherlock made his way quietly over to her.

I watched as Sherlock spooked her making her drop on of the pots. Sherlock quickly caught it and handed it to Soo Lin Yao. As Sherlock did that John turned the lights on. John and I then walked over to the two.

"You saw the cipher" Soo Lin Yao said as we stood around a table, "You know he is coming for me"

"You've been clever to avoid him so far" Sherlock said.

"I had to finish, to finish this work" She told us, "It's only a matter of time. I know he will find me"

"I could speak with my Uncle. He can keep you safe, until he's caught" I told her.

"No, he'll find a way to get to me" She told me.

"Who is he? Have you met him before?" Sherlock asked.

"When I was a girl living back in China. I recognize his... signature" She said.

"The cipher?" Sherlock said.

"Only he would do this. Zhi Zhu" She said.

"Zhi Zhu?" John said.

"The Spider" Sherlock told us as Soo Lin Yao began to take her shoe off.

"You know this mark?" She asked us showing us a tattoo on her heels.

"Yes. It's the mark of a Tong" Sherlock said.

"What's that?" I asked looking at him.

"Ancient crime syndicate, based in China" Sherlock told John and I.

"Oh" I said and looked at Soo Lin Yao.

"Every foot soldier bears the mark" She told us, "Everyone who hauls for them"

"Hauls?" John asked her and Soo Lin Yao looked at him.

"You mean you were a smuggler?" I asked.

"I was 15" She said slipping her shoe back on, "My parents were dead. I had no livelihood, no way of surviving day to day, except to work for the bosses"

"Who are they?" Sherlock asked him.

"They are called the Black Lotus. By the time I was 16, I was taking thousands of pounds worth of drugs across the border into Hong Kong. I managed to leave that life behind me. I came to England. They gave me a job, here. Everything was good. New life" She told us and I frowned sadden by the story.

It was so sad. She has a great new life now and Zhi Zhu is ruining it.

"Then he came looking for you" Sherlock said.

"Yes" Soo Lin Yao said, "I had hoped after five years maybe they would have forgotten me, but they never really let you leave. A small community like ours, they are never very far away. He came to my flat. He asked me to help him to track down something that was stolen"

"And you've no idea what it was?" I asked her.

"I refused to help" She told me.

"So you knew him well when you were living back in China?" John asked her.

"Oh, yes" She said, "He's my brother. Two orphans. We had no choice. We could work for the Black Lotus or starve on the streets like beggars. My brother has become their puppet, in the power of the one they call Shan, Black Lotus General. I turned my brother away. He said I had betrayed him. Next day, I came to work and the cipher was waiting"

Sherlock placed the pictures onto the table.

"Can you decipher these?" Sherlock asked her.

"These are numbers" She said pointing at one of the pictures.

"Yes, I know" Sherlock told her.

"Here, the line across the man's eyes, it's a Chinese number one" She said.

"And this one is 15. But what's the code?" Sherlock asked her.

"All the smugglers know it. It's based upon a book" She said and I jumped when the lights went out.

"He's here. Zhi Zhu. He has found me" Soo Lin Yao said.

"Maria stay here with Soo Lin Yao!" Sherlock said quickly and took off running for the doors.

"Sherlock, Sherlock! Wait!" John told him and looked at Soo Lin Yao.

"Get in. Get in!" John told Soo Lin Yao hiding her.

"Maria" John began, but stopped when a gun was shot.

"Sherlock!" I said quickly and took off running.

"Maria! Wait! Gah!" John shouted.

I ran into the room and jumped behind a statue next to Sherlock.

"I told you stay in there!" He told me.

"Couldn't let you have all the fun, could I?" I told him and flinched when the gun was fired some more.  
"Stay here" Sherlock said and left.

I rolled my eyes and followed after him. He wasn't my Father, he couldn't tell me what to do!

I ran up the stairs and jumped behind a pillar when Zhi Zhu appeared shooting at Sherlock.

"Careful! Some of those skulls are over 200,000 years old. Have a bit of respect! Thank you" Sherlock shouted at him.

He was worried about the skulls? Really?

That's when I noticed the gun shots had stopped. I peeked out from behind the pillar to see that he was gone.

"Sherlock, Zhi Zhu's gone" I told him walking out from behind the pillar.

And then there was a gun shot.

"Oh no! Soo Lin Yao" I said and took off running.

I stopped at the door seeing John standing there staring at the dead body. I shook my head and looked away. I wiped a tear away and walked out of the room.

"She's dead" I told Sherlock as he walked to the room.

Sherlock nodded his head and walked towards the room.

"Sh-Should I call Dimmock?" I asked Sherlock.

"Yes" Sherlock said looking at me and then walked into the room.

"How many murders is it going to take before you start believing that this maniac's out there?" John asked Dimmock as we stood by his desk.

Dimmock ignored John and walked off.

"A young girl was killed tonight. That's three victims in three days. You're supposed to be finding him" I told Dimmock hoping he would listen to me.

"Brian Lukis and Eddie Van Coon were working for a gang of international smugglers, a gang called the Black Lotus operating here in London right under your" Sherlock told him.

"Can you prove that?" Dimmock asked.

Sherlock looked at Dimmock and told him to come with him before leaving with both Dimmock and John. I let out a sigh and walked to my Uncle's office to see if he was in.

"What are you doing here?" Sally asked as I walked past her.

"Visiting my Uncle. Is that against the rules or something?" I asked her.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you. He's in a bad mood" She said.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Don't you know? Your Aunt's cheating on him with some bloke at her work" Sally told me.

I couldn't believe it! Aunt Helena has been cheating! That, that bitch! How dare she cheat on my Uncle Greg!

"Is that why he's been busy?" I asked her and she nodded her head before walking off.

I shook my head. Of all the people who I thought would never cheat, I would have never guessed Helena to do so!

"Hello Uncle Greg" I said slipping into his office.

Uncle Greg looked up at me with a fake smile on his face.

"Hello, Maria. How's Sherlock and John treatin' ya?" He asked.

"They're treating me very well. We're on a case now, but enough about me" I told him and sat in a chair across from his desk, "I just heard about Aunt Helena. Why didn't you tell me?"

"How? And I couldn't tell you, Maria. You already have enough to worry about" Uncle Greg said.

"Sally told me, and what do you mean I already have enough to worry about?" I asked him.

"You know what I mean, Maria. Your Mother" He said and I frowned looking down at the ground.

I could hear the echoing of the howl coming from the hound. I took a deep breath and exhaled.

"That doesn't mean you can keep stuff like that away from me, Uncle Greg. You and Dad are my only living family I got left. Plus John and Sherlock" I told him with tears coming to my eyes.

"I know, Maria. I'm sorry that I kept it from you, and I'm sorry for bringing up your Mother. It's just been a horrible few days" He said and I nodded wiping a few tears.

"It's all right, Uncle Greg. I-I should get going. I have no idea what John and Sherlock are getting themselves into at this moment" I told him standing up.

"Okay, be careful" Uncle Greg said standing up.

I hugged him tightly before leaving and getting a cab. I rode it back to the flat to find it empty. I let out a sigh before taking a shower. After wards I grabbed a book and began to read it waiting for Sherlock and John to come back.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

**I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited and are following this story. It makes me happy to know that people are actually liking this story!**

* * *

When Sherlock and John came back to the flat I was half-way of falling asleep on the couch with the book laying on my stomach.

"Not just a criminal organization, it's a cult" Sherlock said walking into the flat taking his coat off and shutting the door.

"Oh! You two are back" I said yawning sitting up, "How did everything go?"

"The brother was corrupted by one of its leaders" Sherlock continued as if I hadn't said anything.

"Soo Lin said the name" John said sitting in his chair.

"Yes, Shan. General Shan" Sherlock said and I let out sigh as I set the book down onto the table.

"We're still no closer to finding him" John said.

"Wrong. We've hot almost all we need to know" Sherlock said.

"How?" I asked rubbing my eyes to get rid of the sleep in my eyes.

"She gave us most of the missing pieces" Sherlock told us, "Why did he need to visit his sister? Why did he need her expertise?"

"She worked at the museum" John said.

"Exactly" Sherlock said.

"An expert in antiquities. Mm, of course. I see" John said.

"Valuable antiquities, John. Ancient Chinese relics purchased on the black market. China's home to a thousand treasures hidden after Mao's revolution" Sherlock said.

"The Black Lotus is selling them" I said.

Sherlock had a look on his face and grabbed a laptop. He quickly went to an auction site that sold Chinese and other Asian art works.

"Check for the dates" Sherlock said as he clicked the next button on the website showing a pair of Chinese Ming Vases with John and I hover next to him looking at the screen, "Here, John, Maria. Arrived in China four days ago. Anonymous. And it doesn't give his name. Two undiscovered treasures from the East"

"One in Lukis's suitcase" John said.

"And one in Van Coon's" I said.

"Antiquities sold at auction" Sherlock said as he typed it into the search bar, "Look, here's another one. Arrived from China a month ago. Chinese ceramic statue, sold 400.000."

"Uh, look, the month before that. Chinese painting half a million" John said.

"From an anonymous source" I said.

"They're stealing them back in China one by one and they're feeding them into Britain" Sherlock said and I nodded my head in agreement.

"Well, every single auction coincides with Lukis or Van Coon traveling to China" John said looking at Van Coon's schedule and and Lukis's journal.

"So what if one of them get greedy when they were in China? What if one of them stole something?" Sherlock asked looking at John.

"That's why Zhi Zhu's come" John said.

There was a light knock at the door causing all three of us to look at the door to see Mrs. Hudson.

"Sorry. Are we collecting for charity, Sherlock?" Mrs. Hudson asked.

"What?" Sherlock asked her.

"A young man's outside with crates of books" Mrs. Hudson told us.

Soon after that police officers were walking in and out carrying large crates of books into the flat.

"So the numbers are references" Sherlock said.

"To books?" John asked looking at some of the crates.

"It seems so" I said.

"To specific pages and specific words on those pages" Sherlock told us.

"Right, so 15 and one that means..." I began.

"Turn to page 15 and it's the first word you read" He told me and I nodded.

It made sense. So now we have to go through all of these books to find that special one. Oh it's going to take us forever! I just know it.

"Okay, so what's the message?" John asked.

"Depends on the book. That's the cunning of the book code. Has to be one that they both own. " Sherlock told him.

"Well boys, we better get started" I told them and walked over to a crate.

"Okay, then. Well, this shouldn't take too long, should it?" John asked opening a crate.

I began to look through the crate finding some books that seemed interesting. I put those to the side to read later. As I set a stack of books down on the ground, Dimmock walked into the flat.

"We found these at the museum" Dimmock said holding up a baggie.

I paused for a second to look at it. The pictures of the ciphers were in it.

"Is this your writing?" Dimmock asked Sherlock as I went back to searching.

"Uh, we hoped Soo Lin could decipher it for us" John told him taking the pictures from him.

"Anything else I can do? To assist you, I mean?" He asked.

"Some silence right now would be marvelous" Sherlock told him.

"And placing these books some where out of the way would be lovely too" I told him handing him a stack of books.

"Right" he said after glancing at John and leaving the flat after putting the books out of the way.

Hours went by as we searched through the crates. I set an empty crate on top of another empty one and let out a sigh. The light of the sun was coming through the windows. We've been up all night and had found nothing yet! Well I did find about ten or so books to read during my free time. So that's good, I guess.

"What's wrong, John?" I asked him as he let out a sigh after checking his beeping wristwatch.

"I have to go to work" He said standing up.

"Have a good day at work" I told him sitting on the ground indian style as I went through a new crate.

"Yeah, thanks" He said and left the room to get ready.

A few minutes passed and John had left the flat. My stomach began to rumble for food. I stood up setting one of the books down and walked into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Sherlock asked as his eyes scanned a book.

"Getting something to eat. Unlike you, I need food to survive" I told him grabbing a muffin from a box.

I un-wrapped the plastic from it and ate the snack food that would get me through for a some time. I got a drink of water and went back to searching through the crate.

"So what type of book do you think it is?" I asked Sherlock as I scanned through a book.

"I don't know, but it has to be a book that everybody would own" He told me as I set the book down.

I let out a yawn and shook my head an hour later. I stood up and stretched. I heard my back crack and smiled a little at how good it felt. I shook myself before checking a crate. I back up a bit and tripped over a tower of books.

I would had landed on the books, if it wasn't for Sherlock quickly grabbing me. On instinct I latched onto him. I exhaled a breath that I was holding and looked up at him with a small blush on my cheeks. I never really noticed, but his eyes were beautiful shade of silvery blue.

"Thanks for catching me again" I told him and let go.

"You're welcome" He said letting me go, "Be more careful. I might not be there to always catch you"

Sherlock went back to searching the crates. I let out a sigh looking at him before going back to the crate. A few more hours went by and still nothing. I was starting to think that book wasn't here at all!

"A book that everybody would own" Sherlock said and grabbed a few books from his bookshelf.

"Which seems that we don't own" I muttered flipping a few pages from a book.

After all of this was over, I don't even want to look at another book again!

"15, entry one" He said flipping through the pages from one of the books.

"How was work?" I asked John as he stepped into the room.

"I need to get some air" Sherlock said before John could say anything, "We're going out tonight"

"Actually, I've got a date" John said.

"What?" Sherlock and I asked him at the same time.

John never had dates. Well not since I've known him. Same goes for Sherlock, but I think he never had gone on a date before.

"It's where two people who like each other go out and have fun" John told him.

"That's what I was suggesting" Sherlock said and I giggled at that.

From the way he said sounded like he was asking John on a date. It kind of made me think that he had a thing for John.

"No, it wasn't" John said, "At least I hope not"

"Where are you taking her?" Sherlock asked him.

"Cinema" John said.

"Really? The cinema? John, you should take her out to dinner, have a walk through a park or something like that. Something romantic" I told him.

"Dull, boring, predictable. Why don't you try this?" Sherlock said and handed John something, "In London for one night only"

"Thanks, but I don't come to you for dating advice, but however I will go to Maria. Like you were saying earlier, what kind of restaurant should I take her too?" John said.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Sherlock cut me off.

"What is wrong with the circus? It's fun, it's exciting and I'm sure she'll love it" Sherlock said.

"I agree with Sherlock on this one actually. It does seem fun and exciting. Every girl loves a good circus performance. I do" I told him and he nodded.

"Okay, then I'll give it a shot then. No harm can come from it" He said and I smiled, "I better get ready"

John walked out of the room and up the stairs to his room. I looked over at Sherlock who was looking out the window.

"That was kind of you to give him advice on taking his date to the circus" I told him.

"Like you had told me once. He is my friend. I should treat him as such" Sherlock said and turned to me, "Since John has a date tonight. Would you like to go on one with me?"

My eyes went wide. Did I hear him right? Did Sherlock Holmes just ask me out on a date? Oh, bloody hell! The world's coming to an end!

"Uh, s-sure" I stuttered out of shock and nerves.

"Good. Be ready by six" Sherlock said and turned back to the window.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

**AN: I know it's not Friday, but I've decided to update this story every Wednesday and Friday.**

* * *

By six Sherlock and I left the flat. I was wearing a navy blue with red square lined dress that stopped above my knees. My legs were covered by dark gray tights and on my feet were black flats. My hair was down as usual with curls on the ends.

"So where are we going?" I asked him as we rode the taxi.

"We're going to the circus" He said and I shook my head laughing a bit.

Of course, why didn't I see it before. He was spying on John or this circus had to do something with the case. Or it could be both. I was an idiot. For some reason I had a little hope that he was intrested in me. Oh, no! My Dad is getting to me!

"Well then which is it? Spying on John and his date, or this circus has something to do with the case?" I asked him.

"A little bit of both" He said and I nodded.

"Well then you should had told me in the beginning. I wouldn't have thought the world was coming to an end" I told him and gave me a confused look.

"Why would you think that?" He asked me.

"Um, well it just seems odd for you to ask me or anyone for that matter on a date. I don't mean anything bad by that, it's just odd" I told him and he nodded, "Right, so what does this circus have to do with the case?"

"I think it's their alibi to be here in London. One night, easy to get into the country. The killer is someone who can climb, who can shin up a rope. Where else would someone like that be?" He said.

"A chinese circus" I told him and he nodded.

"Exactly" He said and the cab stopped in front of our destination.

We got out of the cab and walked into the building. We walked up the stairs and I could see John and his date getting their tickets.

"Uh, Holmes" John told the ticket man.

"Actually, I have four in that name" The man told him.

"No, I don't think so. We only booked two" John told him.

"And then I phoned back and got two for myself and Maria as well" Sherlock said as we walked over to the two.

"I'm Sherlock" Sherlock told John's date holding his hand out for her.

"And I'm Maria" I said giving her a smile.

"Uh, hi" She said shaking his hand.

"Hello" Sherlock said and walked off dragging me with him.

We stood on the stairs to wait for John and his date.

"He's going to be mad that we're here" I told Sherlock as John made his way to us.

"You couldn't let me have just one night off?" John told Sherlock and then looked at me, "I thought you would had stopped him"

"To my defense he tricked me into this" I told John.

"Not very hard to do" He muttered I glared at him for a second as he told John about the Yellow Dragon Circus being sent here by the Tongs.

"Now all I need to do is have a quick look round the place" Sherlock said.

"Fine, you do that. I'm going to take Sarah for a pint" John told him.

"I need your help!" Sherlock told him.

"You have Maria to help you and I do have a couple of other things on my mind" John told him.

"Like what?" Sherlock asked him and I began to giggle.

For a man who could tell you everything about something by just looking at something for a second can't seem to see that John was wanting to get off with his date.

"You are kidding. He's kidding right?" John asked me and I shrugged my shoulders.

"What's so important?" Sherlock asked him and I began to laugh again.

"Sherlock, I'm right in the middle of a date. You want me to chase some killer while I'm trying to..." John said.

"What?" Sherlock asked him as I tried to calm my laughing fit.

"While I'm trying to get off with Sarah!" John said a bit to loudly as his date, Sarah made her way up to us.

I stopped my laughing as I looked at John to see what he was going to say now.

"Hey... ready?" He asked her as Sherlock began to walk up the stairs.

We stood in a big room that looked more like an empty theater with a ring of lights in the middle with about thirty or more people standing around.

"You said circus" John told Sherlock as we looked around, "This is not a circus. Look at the size of this crowd. Sherlock, this is... art"

"This is not their day job" Sherlock told him.

"No, sorry, I forgot they're not a circus they're a gang of international smugglers" John said and I let out a sigh.

Boys. They were simply children in grown men bodies picking at each other like brothers would.

The sound of a little beating of drums caught my attention as I looked over as the show was about to the begin. A woman walked into the middle of the circle and raised her hand up stopping the drum beating. A louder and deeper sounding drum began to beat while the woman walked over to a big thing that was covered.

The woman pulled the cover off of the thing to reveal what looked to be a giant crossbow. She picked up a stick that had a pointed metal tip at one end and had feathers on the other. The woman showed us the stick and then placed it onto the crossbow. She pulled a feather from her hat and dropped it into a bowl. I jumped and took a step back into Sherlock as the stick flew from the crossbow and into a board.  
"Sorry" I whispered to him stepping to the side.

I looked back at the performance to see a man wearing a mask standing in the middle of the circle now. Two men came out with chains and put it on the man. They chained him to the board as Sherlock leaned forward.

"Classic Chinese escapology act" He whispered, "Crossbow's on delicate string. The warrior has to escape his bonds before it fires"

I watched the woman placed another stick onto the crossbow. I looked over at the chained man when he had shouted. Sarah jumped and held onto John when a cymbal was hit. She apologised to John laughing. The woman got out a dagger and I wondered to myself if she was going to throw it at the chain man, but Sherlock spoke up killing the thought.

"She splits the sandbag, the sand pours out. Gradually the weight lowers into the bowl" Sherlock said as she stabbed the knife into the bag of sand.

"It's remarkable how you do that. Know everything they're about to do" I whispered to him and I saw the corner of his lips twitch upwards.

I watched the man in chains shout and shake trying to get loose from his bonds as the weight was loward. My eyes went wide as he got his hands loose from the chains. He grabbed the key and began to un-lock the locks. I held my hands up to my lips in supense as the weight was close to being loward into the bowl. I jumped and grabbed Sherlock's arm as the stick was release while the man ducked to the ground.

"Let's go" Sherlock whispered into my ear placing a hand on to mine to keep it in place as we walked away.

Sherlock let go of my hand and began to look around.

"What are we suppose to be looking for exactly?" I asked Sherlock as he bent down.

Sherlock kept quiet as he stared at something. I looked at what he was staring at and jumped thinking that it was someone in the costume. However when I looked down at where the legs were I let out a sigh of relief. It was just a empty suit.

"-the deadly Chinese bird spider" I heard the woman say from behind the curtain.

I walked over to the curtain and looked through it to see a man flying around.

"I think that's our killer" I told Sherlock as he stood next to me watching the man.

"Well, well" He said.

The sound of the door opening caused Sherlock and I to look away from the curtain. Like always when we were about to get caught, Sherlock grabbed my wrist and dragged me behind a rack of clothing. We watched the woman walk into the room and grabbed her phone. I bent down accidentally knocking one of the hangers loose.

I bit my lip as the woman looked over at us and let loose when the woman walked out of the room shutting the door behind her. I noticed Sherlock picked something out of a bag that was on the ground. I looked back to see it was the same kind of yellow spray paint that was used on the ciphers.

"Found you" Sherlock said and stood up walking out of the racks.

I followed him over to a mirrior and sprayed a straight yellow line on it. I gulped when I saw the reflection of the costume that had been empty head move. Sherlock quickly turned and pushed me out of the way as the man came at him with a sword.

The man swung his sword at Sherlock who was ducking and dodging it. He even used the spray can to block a hit or two. While that was going on I was looking around quickly for any sort of weapon that I could use. I saw an umbrella laying on a table and ran over to it. I grabbed the umbrella and ran over to Sherlock and the man who had his back to me. He punched Sherlock in the face and I smacked the man on the back stunning him a bit. While he was distracted Sherlock used the spray paint to spray the man in the face.

Sherlock pushed the man onto the ground. He jumped up a few seconds later and kicked Sherlock through the curtain. He looked at me and grabbed my wrist. I smack at the man as he pushed me into the clothing rack before jumping through the curtains and off of the stage.

I pushed the clothing that had been hanging on the rack away as I tried to stand up. I crawled and pushed away clothing, metal rod that had fallen and a few items I didn't know or paid attention to what it was. At that moment my mind was going crazy. I stood up and ran out of the room ignoring that pain that my muscles were screaming about.

"Come on, let's go" Sherlock said after Sarah had beaten the man into unconciousness.

I followed them out of the place. Once out of the building we got a cab and went straight to the police station.

"I sent a couple of cars" Dimmock told us as we followed him through the police station, "The old hall is totally deserted"

"Look, I saw the mark in the circus. That tattoo that we saw on the two bodies, the mark of the Tong" Sherlock told him.

"Lukis and Van Coon were part of a smuggling operation. Now, one of them stole something when they were in China, something valuable" John told him.

"And they want it back" I told him.

"These circus performers were gang members sent here to get it back" Sherlock told him.

"Get what back?" Dimmock asked.

"We don't know" I told him.

"You don't know?" He said looking at me, "Mr. Holmes, I've done everything you asked. Lestrade, he seems to think your advice is worth something"

"And it is" I told him and he gave me a "shut up" look.

"I gave the order for a raid. Please tell me I'll have something to show for it, other than a massive bill for overtime" Dimmock said.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

After talking to Dimmock for a bit we left the station and went back to the flat. I couldn't believe they had gotten away.

"They'll be back in China by tomorrow" John said as Sherlock was taking his coat off.

"No, they won't leave without what they came for" Sherlock said.

"If they can find it" I muttered.

"We need to find a hideout, a rendezvous" Sherlock said as he walked around the crates of books, "Somewhere in this message it must tell us"

"Well guys, I'm going to change clothes" I said and walked up to my room.

I slipped my dress off and took my tights off before grabbing a jumper and a pair jeans from my closet. I put them on and walked down to the living room to find Sherlock calling out to John.

"What's going on?" I asked looking over at him.

"John, Maria look at this" Sherlock said opening the baggie with the picture that Dimmock had brought, "Soo Lin, at the museum, she started to translate the code for us. We didn't see it"

I walked over to Sherlock and glanced at the photo. There was a nine and a mill.

"Something million?" John asked looking at the photo with Sarah next to him.

"Nine million quid, for what?" Sherlock said and began to walk over to his coat and scarf, "We need to know the end of this sentence"

"Where are you going?" John and I asked him.

"To the museum, to the restorantion room" Sherlock said, "We must have been staring right at it"

"At what?" John asked him.

"The book, John" Sherlock told him, "the book, the key to cracking the cipher. Soo Lin used it to do this. Whilst we were running around the gallery, she started to translate the code. It must be on her desk"

We watched Sherlock leave the flat. I let out a sigh and looked at John and Sarah.

"Well I better go with him. No clue as to what trouble he may run into. Have fun you too, and don't make a mess" I told them winking at John and left the flat quickly.

"Taxi!" I heard Sherlock shout as I ran for the door.

When I made it out the door I saw Shelock apologizing to a couple in German handing them a book that he must had made them drop. I rushed over to him as he tried to get a cab once again. He gave up and began to walk away. He stopped after a few steps and turned around. I stood next to him while he looked around in slience, until all of a sudden he took off running shouting at the couple he had bumped into.

"Please, wait! Bitte!" He shouted as I chased after him.

The couple stopped and turned to Sherlock confused as to what we wanted. Sherlock stopped in front of them and took the man's book.

"Sherlock you can't do that!" I shouted at him and looked at the couple quickly apologizing for Sherlock taking their book "Entschuldigung"

"Minute!" Sherlock shouted at the man as he looked at the book.

The man shouted at Sherlock for a second before giving up and walking away. I let out a sigh and shook my head as I looked at Sherlock as he flipped through the book repeating page 15, entry one.

"Deadman" He said looking up.

"That's what the cipher that was left for Van Coon and Lukis meant?" I asked, but he kept speaking to himself.

"You were threatening to kill them. That's the first cipher" Sherlock said and pulled out the photo.

He looked at me and told to turn around. I did as he said and was a little shocked when he placed the picture on my back and began to write the answers down on the photo after checking the book.

"Fore" He muttered writing it on the photo.

He mumbled a bit checking the book.

"Jade" He said and wrote it down.

I can't believe I'm letting him use me like some table to write on! Oh it must look comical.

"Nine mill for jade pin. Dragon den black tramway" He said removing the photo from my back.

"Is that what the cipher says?" I asked Sherlock turning to him.

He nodded his head before heading back to the flat.

"John, John! I've got it. The cipher, the book. It's the London A to Z that they use" Sherlock shouted as we walked into room.

"They must be busy" I commented when there was no answer.

"Busy with what?" Sherlock asked looking at me and I couldn't believe he just asked me that.

He was a man! He should know what that means!

Sherlock walked into the living area and stopped.

"You should know what that... oh no!" I said following him into the room and stopped seeing the cipher on the window.

"Tramway" Sherlock said going over to the bookcase and grabbing a map.

"Why would they take John and Sarah for?" I asked Sherlock as he placed the map down on a book covered table.

"No time for questions, Maria, we have to go" Sherlock told me walking towards the door.

I let out a sigh and followed after him.

"Should I call Dimmock or my Uncle?" I asked him as we got into a cab.

"Yes" He said and told the cabbie to drive quickly.

The cabbie nodded his head and drove quickly to the tramway. Sherlock jumped out of the cab, while I stayed behind paying the man. I got out and ran after him.

"Stay here" Sherlock whispered to me and I shook my head.

"I'm not Sherlock Holmes!" John shouted.

"I don't believe you" I heard the woman from the circus tell him.

"You should, you know" Sherlock shouted at her stepping out into the line of sight.

"Sherlock Holmes is nothing at all like him" I said standing next to him, "Sorry John"

Sherlock gave me a look that told me to go back. The woman pulled out a gun and aimed it at us. Sherlock dragged me back to where we had hid earlier.

"How would you describe me, John? Maria?" Sherlock asked, "Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmatic?"

"Somewhat childish?" I muttered.

"That's a semi-automatic" Sherlock told the woman, "If you fire it, the bullet will travel at over thousand meters per second"

"Well?" The woman asked.

"Well" Sherlock said and jumped at the man with a riding crop he had hidden in coat smacking the man, "The radius curvature of these walls is nearly four meters. If you miss, the bullet will ricochet. Could hit anyone. Might even bounce off the tunnel and hit you"

Sherlock ran out and kicked over a trash bin that was on fire cutting off some the light. I ran out of my spot. The woman was running towards me and pushed me away as she made her escape. I fell into the wall. My head hitting it hard. I got up and shook my head as my vision was slightly blurry as I made my way over to John who had fallen to the ground.

"John the crossbow! Quickly!" I told him as I tried to rush over to them.

John kicked his foot at the crossbow turning it toward Zhi Zhu. The stick flew away from the crossbow hitting him in the stomach. He fell backwards dead. Sherlock stood up and looked to where the woman was running away. I got onto my knees and began to un-tie John from his chair.

"Hold still, John" I told him as he began to move around.

"Don't worry" John said looking at Sarah, "Next date won't be like this"

When John and Sarah was un-tied we left the tunnel and saw that the police had arrived. The woman was long gone and couldn't be found. I sat in the back of an ambulance getting my head checked out from where I had hit it on the wall, while Sherlock, John and Sarah made their way over to me.

"How's the head?" John asked.

"It's fine. Just a little cut nothing to bad" I told him hopping off of the ambulance tossing the shock blanket off of my shoulder.

I never really liked those. It was the third time I had ever had one.

"Shall we be off?" I asked and they nodded.

We were soon leaving. Sherlock stopped next to Dimmock and spoke to him. I stood off to the side to let John and Sarah go off on their own. No need to be a third wheel.

"Exactly, come on Maria" Sherlock said walking away from Dimmock.

I followed after him.

We made it back to the flat and I made some tea.

"So, 'nine mill'" John said as Sherlock poured himself a cup of tea as he looked at the cipher.

"Million" Sherlock said.

"Million, yes. "Nine million for jade pin. Dragon den black tramway." John said reading the photo.

"An instruction to all their London operatives" Sherlock told him.

"Mm"

"A message, what they were trying to reclaim" Sherlock said.

"A jade pen" John said looking up at him.

"Worth 9 million pound. Bring it to the tramway, their London hideout" Sherlock told him.

"Hang on. A hairpen worth 9 million pounds?" John said.

"Apparently" Sherlock said.

"Why so much?" John asked.

"Must be old" I said.

"Depends who owned it" Sherlock said.

"I wonder who took it?" I asked as we walked to the bank.

"Two operatives based in London. They travel to Dalian to smuggle those vases. One of them helps himself to something, a little hairpen" Sherlock said.

"Worth 9 million pounds" John said.

"Eddie Van Coon was the theif. He stole the treasure when he was in China" Sherlock said.

"And why do you say that? It could have been Lukis" I told him.

"The killer didn't even know who had" John said as we walked into the bank.

"Because of the soap" Sherlock said and I shook my head with a small smile.

Of course the soap! Why didn't I think of that!? I thought sarcastically to myself as Sherlock pulled out his phone.

"He brought you a present" Sherlock told the person that he had called, "A little gift when he came back from China"

"How did you know that?" I heard Amanda Van Coon's PA ask.

"You weren't just his PA, were you?" Sherlock asked her as we walked to her.

"Someone's been gossiping?" Amanda said putting her phone away.

"No" Sherlock said as we walked around her desk.

"Then I don't understand what" She began, but Sherlock cut her off.

"Scented hand soap in his apartment, 300 milimeters of it, bottle almost finished" Sherlock said.

"Sorry?" She asked confused.

"I'll just listen to what he says. It's a bit shocking" I told her and Sherlock continued telling her that Van Coon wasn't the type of guy to buy hand soap, unless he had a woman coming over. And that it the same type of brand as her hand cream that had on her desk. It was remarkable that he knew all of the by just soap and hand cream.

"Look, it wasn't serious between us. As I'm sure it isn't between you two" She said looking at us, I blushed at her assumption, "It was over in a flash. It couldn't last. He was my boss"

"What happened? Why did you end it?" Sherlock asked her.

"I thought he didn't appreciate me. Took me for granted. Stood me up once too often. We'd plan to go away for the weekend, and then he'd just leave, fly off to China at a moment's notice" She told us.

"He brought you a present from abroad to say sorry. Could we just have a look at it?" Sherlock asked her holding his hand out.

"He said he bought it in a street market" She told us as she pulled the jade hairpen fron her hair.

"Oh, I don't think that's true. I think he pinched it" Sherlock said as she placed it into his hand.

"Yeah, that's Eddie" She said.

"Didn't know it's value, just thought it would suit you" Sherlock said looking at it.

"Oh? What's it worth?" She asked rubbing her hands together.

"9 million pounds" Sherlock told her.

"Oh, my God!" She gasped standing up.

"Careful" I told her as she bumped into some things before running off shouting nine million.

I laughed as I watched her. John showed up holding an envelope.

"I see she found out how much it's worth" John said as Amanda was doing a victory dance.

"Yes she did" I said and looked at the jade pen that was in Sherlock's hand, "It's pretty"

"I suppose so" Sherlock said and walked over to Amanda.

He handed her the jade pen and we were off back to the flat.

A few days had went by since then. I got the morning paper and smiled seeing the front page was about the jade pen.

"Where do they come up with those saying?" I said laying the paper in front of Sherlock so he could read it.

"Over a thousand years old and it's been sitting on her bedside table every night" John said as he eat his breakfast.

"He didn't know it's value, didn't know why they were chasing him" Sherlock said as he read the paper.  
"He should have just got her a lucky cat" John said, "You mind, don't you?"

"What?" Sherlock asked.

"That she escaped, General Shan. It's not enough that we got her two henchmen and she did hurt Maria" John said and I rolled my eyes.

It was just a cut on the head! Nothing to bad, except that she got away.

"It must be a vast network, John. Thousands of operatives. We barely scratched the surface and plus Maria wasn't hurt that badly. If she had been then that would be a different story" Sherlock told him.

"You cracked the code, thought, Sherlock, and maybe Dimmock can track down all of them now that he knows it" John said.

"No" Sherlock told him, "No, I cracked this code. All the smugglers have to do is pick up another book"

"And it's a whole new mystery" I said and took a sip of my tea.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

"Just tell us what happened from the beginning" Sherlock told the prisoner, Mr. Bewick who was sitting across from us in Minsk, Belarus after a few weeks since the Blind Banker case as John liked to call it.

"We'd been to a bar, nice place and I got chatting with one of the waitresses and Karen weren't happy with that, so when we get back to the hotel, we end up having a bit of a ding-dong, don't we?" The prisoner said and Sherlock let out a loud sigh, "She was always getting at me, saying weren't a real man"

"_Wasn't _a real man" Sherlock corrected him and I giggled at that.

Didn't anyone teach this man how to speak correctly? It was getting a little annoying.

"What?" He asked confused.

"It's not 'weren't,' it's 'wasn't.'" Sherlock explained.

"Oh" Mr. Bewick said.

"Go on, please" I told him.

"Well, then I don't know how it happened, but suddenly there's a knife in my hands. You know, my own man was a butcher, so I know how to handle knives. He learned us how to cut up a beast" He said and I rolled my eyes when he said learned instead of taught.

"Taught" Sherlock said causing me to giggle once again.

"What?" He asked.

"_Taught_ you how to cut up a beast" Sherlock told him.

"Yeah, well, then I done it" He said.

"Did it" Sherlock corrected.

"Did it! Stabbed her over and over and over, "He shouted pounding on the table causing me to jump, "and I looked down and she weren't... _Wasn't_ moving no more. _Any_ more. God help me, I don't know how it happened, but it was an accident, I swear"

Sherlock stood up from the table and began to walk off. I apologized to the guy and walked over to Sherlock who stopped listening to the man.

"Without you, I'll get hung for this" He said.

"No, no, no, Mr. Bewick, not at all" Sherlock said turning to the man, "Hanged, yes"

I bit my bottom lip as I tried not to giggle as we walked out of the room leaving the man to watch us.

"That wasn't very nice saying that to him" I told Sherlock as we got into a cab.

"And?" He said and I let out a sigh.

"Nevermind, so why didn't we take the case?" I asked him.

"I don't do domestics, and it's not worth our time" He said and I looked out the window.

Getting to the flat I walked into the kitchen to get the tub of ice cream that I had bought the other day. I opened the freezer and let out a scream seeing a head laying on top of my tub of ice cream.

"What's the matter?" Sherlock asked walking into the kitchen quickly.

"There's a bloody head in the freezer!" I shouted at him pointing to the head.

"Oh, I should of told you about that. I'm doing an experiment. Hope you don't mind" He said and walked out of the kitchen.

"I wouldn't have minded if you hadn't placed him on top of my ice cream! Now I'm going to have to go to the store tomorrow and buy some more!" I told him as he sat in his chair.

"And?" He asked I let out a sigh, before walking over to the couch.

I laid down on the couch and picked up a book that I've started to read the day before in over a week. Since the Blind Banker case, I hadn't picked up a book until now. I was bored and had nothing better to do, since Sherlock hadn't taken any new cases lately.

I set the book down after an hour of reading onto the coffee table after marking my page and closed my eyes for a second to rest them, until two gun shots were fired from across the room where Sherlock was sitting in his chair. I rolled onto the ground quickly covering my head with my arms.

"What is your problem!?" I asked him popping my head up, I quickly ducked as Sherlock shot the gun again four times.

"What the hell are you doing?" John asked running into the room.

"John, you're here! Thank God!" I said getting up quickly and running over to him.

"Bored" Sherlock said.

"What?" John asked him.

"Bored!" Sherlock said standing up.

"Not again" I said and covered my ears as John said something, but I couldn't hear over the gun shots.

John walked into the room quickly and took the gun away from Sherlock. He took the clip out of it as Sherlock walked over to the couch.

"I don't know what's got into the criminal classes" Sherlock said, "It's a good job I'm not one of them"

"So you take it out on the wall?" John asked him as he locked the gun in a safe.

"Oh, the wall had it coming, and I wanted the couch" He said and fell onto the couch.

"If you wanted the couch, you just had to ask me to get up!" I told him placing my hands on my hips as I glared at him.

"But that would've been boring" He said and I rolled my eyes sitting in John's chair.

"Bloody idiot" I muttered as John asked about the case with the prisoner.

"Belarus, open and shut domestic murder. Not worth my time" Sherlock said.

"But it would be something for us to do instead of laying around in the flat all day shooting at the wall" I muttered as John walked into the kitchen.

"Anything in? I'm starving" John said and walked over to the fridge.

"John, wait! Don't open that..." It was too late, he opened the door and closed it.

"Oh!" He gasped and opened it again, "There's a head. A severed head"

"I tried to warn you" I told him.

"Just tea for me, thanks" Sherlock said and I rolled my eyes at him.

"There's a head in the fridge" John said walking out of the kitchen.

"A bloody head" John said.

"Where else was I supposed to put it? You don't mind, do you?" He asked.

"Not on top of my ice cream! Where did you get the head from anyways?" I asked him.

"I got it from Barts morgue. I'm measuring the coagulation of saliva after death. I see you've written up the taxi driver case" Sherlock said.

"And it's very good, John" I told him.

"Yes" John said and sat in Sherlock's chair.

"A Study in Pink", nice" Sherlock said.

"Well, you know, pink lady, pink case, pink phone, there was a lot of pink. Did you like it?" John told him

"Um... no" Sherlock told him looking at a magazine.

"Why not? I thought you'd be flattered" John told him.

"Flattered? "Sherlock sees through everything and everyone in seconds. What's incredible though is how spectacularyly ignorant he is about some things." Sherlock said.

"Now, hang on a minute, I didn't mean th" John began, but Sherlock cut him off.

"Oh, you meant spectacularly ignorant in a nice way? Look, it doesn't matter to me who's prime minister or who's sleeping with who" Sherlock said.

"Or that the Earth goes round the sun" John said and I bit my bottom lip trying not to laugh at that.

Of course Sherlock wouldn't know anything about the planets.

"Oh God, that again. It's not important" Sherlock told him.

"Not important? It's primary school stuff. How can you not know that?" John told him.

"Well, if I ever did, I've deleted it" Sherlock said.

"Deleted it?" John asked him.

"Is that even possible?" I asked as Sherlock sat up.

"Listen, this is my hard drive" He said pointing to his head, "and it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful, really useful. Ordinary people fill their heads with all kids of rubbish and that makes it hard to get at the stuff that matters. Do you see?"

"But it's the solar system" John said.

"Oh hell, what does that matter? So we go around the sun! If we went round the moon or round and round the garden like a teddy bear, it wouldn't make any difference. All that matters to me is the work. Without that my brain rots. Put that in your blog. Or better still, stop inflicting your opinions on the world" Sherlock asked.

"John, he didn't mean that" I told him as he walked over to the coat rack grabbing his coat.

"Where are you going?" Sherlock asked looking over at John.

"Out. I need some air" John said and left the flat.

"I'm sorry, love" Mrs. Hudson told John as she walked up the stairs.

"Hello, Mrs. Hudson" I said smiling at her as she walked into the flat knocking on the door.

"Have you two had a little domestic?" Mrs. Hudson asked Sherlock as she walked into the kitchen.

Sherlock got up off the couch and walked over the coffee table. I let out a sigh and got up from John's chair.

"I'm going up to my room for the night. Good night, Mrs. Hudson" I told them and walked up the stairs.

Once in my room I changed into my silk pajama bottoms and a tank top. I took off the locket that I kept around my neck that had belonged to my mother onto my dresser mirrior and turned to the window for a second.

"Oh shit!" I gasped and raised my arm and hands up out of instinct quickly seeing the explosion across the street.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

My ears were ringing as I laid on the ground. My hands and arms were stinging as I laid there with blurry vision. A set of feet or what resembled to be a set of feet came rushing into my room. As everything came to focus I noticed it was Sherlock. He bent down and was saying something. I could understand him, because of the ringing, but that soon went away.

"Maria are you okay?" He asked as I pushed myself up.

I let out a gasp from the sharp pain shooting in my hand. Sherlock grabbed my wrist gently and looked at my palm.

"There's glass in your palms. Not too deep, but it will cause damage if you don't get them out" He said and stood up.

Sherlock helped me stand and I almost fell backwards feeling a bit dizzy. Sherlock placed a hand on my back to help walk me down to the kitchen. I sat in a chair, while he went to get the first aid kit. While he did that I looked down at my palms. There were cuts tiny ones and a big one on my left hand. It went across and I could see bits of glass in it.

"Hold out your hands" Sherlock said as he set the kit onto the table.

I did as I was told. Sherlock grabbed a bottle of disinfectant and told me that it would sting a bit. I let out a hiss of pain as he poured a bit onto the cut on my palm.

"What happened?" I asked him as he worked on my right hand.

"There was an explosion across the street" He said dropping a piece of glass into a dish.

"I know that, but what could have caused?" I told him.

"Could of been a terrorist plot, gas leak, hard to say" He told me as he pulled out some of the glass from my palm.

"Well it should be easy for you to find out. What with you being the wonderful detective Sherlock Holmes" I told him.

"I'll let your Uncle take care of that. Right now I have something more important to take care of" He said as he began to bandage my hand.

"And what's that?" I asked him.

"My assistant" He said looking me in the eyes and I blushed for some un-known reason.

"Is everyone all right in here!?" Mrs. Hudson asked rushing into the room.

"We're fine Mrs. Hudson" Sherlock told her laying my bandage hand down gently.

"Thank goodness, oh! Sherlock, you lied! Maria is hurt" Mrs. Hudson told him as she walked into the kitchen.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Hudson" I told her.

"Are you sure, deary?" She asked I nodded my head as Sherlock picked up my other hand.

"Yeah, it doesn't even hurt" I told her and let out a hiss as Sherlock poured some disinfectant onto my other hand, "Warn me next time when you do that!"

"Sorry" He said and began to pull out the glass.

"I'll start cleaning up this mess" She said and grabbed a broom.

"You don't have too Mrs. Hudson. I'll do that once Sherlock's done playing doctor" I told her.

"You're unable too clean up with your hands like this" Sherlock said as he pulled a piece of glass from my palm, "Your wounds can get infected, or with your feet, you might trip and fall hurting yourself more"

I rolled my eyes at him as he set his tweezers down. I watched him grab the roll of bandages and wrapped it around my hand.

"There all done with your hands, now hold out your arm" He said and I did.

He looked at my arm before getting the disinfectant and rubbed it on my arm with a cloth. I bit my bottom lip as the cuts stung. After a few seconds the pain went away and Sherlock did the same with the other arm. When the pain went away, I stood up and put away the first aid kit, after Sherlock left the flat to check out what had happened.

"Have Sherlock cover up the windows when he gets back, dear" Mrs. Hudson said as she set the broom against the wall.

"I will, and thank you for doing this Mrs. Hudson" I told her.

"Anytime" She said with a smile, "Keep those cuts clean and be careful with your hands"

"I will" I told her as I sat on the couch and she left leaving me alone in the flat.

Sherlock returned about an hour later, saying that there was a gas leak in the building across the street. After learning that I told Sherlock to cover the windows like Mrs. Hudson had told me to do. When he was done doing that, I decided to go to bed.

The sound of a violin being played woke me up. I got out of my bed and let out a groan at the pain in my arms and hands. I looked down at my hands and noticed that the bandages needed changing. I changed out of my pajamas and walked down to the living room. I stopped seeing Mycroft was here along with John. Hopefully he wasn't still mad about last night.

"What's he like to live with? Hellish, I imagine" Mycroft asked John.

"I'm never bored" John told.

"And it's quite the opposite of Hellish. Though there are those moments, but it's all exciting and wonderful, Mr. Holmes" I said politely and walked into the kitchen to get the first aid kit.

"Good. That's good, isn't it?" Mycroft said and stood up picking up a file.

He held it out to Sherlock and the two had a short staring contest, until Mycroft walked over to John handing him the file as I walked into the living room with the kit.

"Andrew West, known as Westie to his friends, civil servant, found dead on the tracks of Battersea station this morning with his head smashed in" Mycroft said.

"He jumped in front of a train" John said.

"That seems the logical assumption" Mycroft told him as I sat in the chair he had been sitting in.

I un-rolled the bandages and set them in the floor for the moment. I grabbed the set of bandages and began to roll it around my left palm first, after putting some disinfectant on it. It stung a bit like it had that night. When I was done with my left hand, I began to do the same to my right hand.

"You have to find those plans, Sherlock. Don't make me order you" Mycroft told him.

"I'd like to see you try" Sherlock told him placing his violin on his shoulder.

"Play nice, Sherlock" I told him as I cut the bandage.

"Think it over. Good-bye, John. Maria" He said and walked over to John, "See you very soon"

I covered my ears when Sherlock began to play his violin badly on purpose as Mycroft walked to the door.

"Why'd you lie?" John asked him as I shut the lid of the first aid kit, "You've got nothing on, not a single case. That's why the wall took a pounding. Why did you tell your brother you were busy?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Sherlock asked using his violin bow to scratch his head looking up at the ceiling.

"He's your brother and he needs your help" I told him.

"Oh, nice" John said, "Sibling rivalry, now we're getting somewhere"

Sherlock put his bow down quickly and got out his phone as I stood up picking the used bandages from the floor. I grabbed the first aid kit and walked into the kitchen as Sherlock answered his phone.

"Of course, how could I refuse" Sherlock said and I looked at him after setting the kit on the table, knowing that we had a case now.

"Lestrade, I've been summoned. Coming?" Sherlock asked John.

"If you want me to" John said as Sherlock walked over to his coat.

I grabbed mine and put it on. Slowly when I put my arms in.

"Of course. I'd be lost without my blogger" Sherlock told him and we were off to the police station.

Getting to the station we met with Uncle Greg.

"What happened to your hands?" Uncle Greg asked as I hugged him.

"I got cut by some of the glass that the explosion had broken" I told him and he looked at Sherlock.

"I told you not to let her get hurt" Uncle Greg told him.

"Uncle Greg, it's not his fault that there was a bloody gas leak in the building across the street that made the explosion" I told him placing my hands on my hips as I walked in front of Sherlock.

"You look just like your, Mum doing that" He said with a sad smile, "And you're right. Sorry"

Uncle Greg walked us into the station.

"You like the funny cases, don't you? The surprising ones" Uncle Greg asked as we walked through the station.

"Obviously" Sherlock said.

"You're going to love this" Uncle Greg said, "That explosion"

"Gas leak, yes?" Sherlock asked.

"No" Uncle Greg said and my eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

If it wasn't a gas leak then what was it?

"No?" Sherlock said.

"No, made to look like one" Uncle Greg explained.

"What?" John asked.

"Hardly anything left of the place except a strong box, a very strong box and inside it was this" He said pointing to an envelope on a table.

"You haven't opened it?" Sherlock asked him.

"It's addressed to you, isn't it? We've X-rayed it; it's not booby-trapped" Uncle Greg said and I looked at the envelope more closely.

It had Sherlock's name on it in blue ink.

"How reassuring" Sherlock said and picked up the envelope to look at it under a lamp, "Nice stationary. Bohemian"

"What?" Uncle Greg asked as we stood behind Sherlock.

"From the Czech Republic. No fingerprints?" He asked.

"No" Uncle Greg told him.

"She used a fountain pen. Parker Duofold, iridium nib" Sherlock said.

"She?" John asked.

"Obviously" Sherlock said.

"Obviously" John copied as Sherlock grabbed a letter opener and slowly opened the envelope.

Sherlock set the letter opener down and opened the envelope up. He looked inside and pulled out a pink Iphone. The same one that belonged to the pink lady from the Study in Pink.

"But that-that's the phone, the pink phone" John said as we looked at the phone in Sherlock's hand.

"How can it be?" I asked.

"What, from "A study in Pink"?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Well, obviously it's not the same phone, but it's supposed to look like..." Sherlock stopped and looked over at Uncle Greg, "A Study in Pink"? You read his blog?"

"Of course I read his blog; we all do" Uncle Greg told him, "Do you really not know that the Earth goes round the sun?"

Sally snickered at that and we all looked at her. She left the room with a stack of papers that she had printed.

"It isn't the same phone. This one's brand new. Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to make it look like the same phone, which means your blog has a far wider readership"

"You have one new message" The phone said and then five beeps were played.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"No, that's not it" Sherlock said and turned the phone sideways to show a picture of an empty abandon room with a fireplace and mirror.

"What the hell are we supposed to make of that?" Uncle Greg asked, "An estate agent's photo and the bloody Greenwich pips"

"It's a warning" Sherlock said.

"A warning?" John asked.

"Of what?" I asked him.

"Some secret societies used to send dried melon seeds, orange pips, things like that. Five pips. They're warning us it's going to happen again. I've seen this place before" Sherlock said and walked towards the door.

"Hang on. What's going to happen again?" John asked as we followed.

"Boom!" Sherlock said looking at him.

We left the station and got into the cab.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

The cab took us back to the flat. I was confused as to why we came here and not to the place on the phone. We walked into the flat over to a door that had 221c on the door. I had no idea that it was even there.

"Mrs. Hudson!" Sherlock said loudly for the old landlady.

"What is it, Sherlock?" She asked.

"We need to get into this room" Sherlock told her.

"Let me go get the key. Oh, Maria how are your arms and hands?" She asked.

"They're getting better, Mrs. Hudson" I told her and she nodded her head before going to get the keys.

"Your arms?" Uncle Greg asked.

"They got scratches from the glass" I told him and quickly added before he could jump onto Sherlock some more, "They're not bad like my palms"

Mrs. Hudson came back a minute later.

"You had a look, didn't you, Sherlock, when you first came to see about your flat?" Mrs. Hudson asked as Sherlock un-locked the door.

"The door's been opened recently" Sherlock said.

"No, it can't be, that's the only key" She told him, "I can't get anyone interested in this flat. It's the damp, I expect. That's the curse of basements. I had a place once when I was first married, black mold all up the wall"

Uncle Greg had to pull me along with him into the room. If he hadn't I would've stayed with Mrs. Hudson to listen to her as she spoke.

"Shoes" John said as we walked into a room.

It was just like the photo on the phone. Except one thing. There was a pair of shoes in the middle of the room.

"He's a bomber, remember" John told Sherlock as he walked to the shoes.

"Maria why don't you go up stairs where it's much safer" Uncle Greg told me and I shook my head.

I wasn't going to leave them down here alone.

"No can do, Uncle Greg" I told him and he let out a sigh.

I watched Sherlock get onto his hands and knees bending down to look at the shoes. I jumped when the pink phone began to ring. Sherlock got up and got the phone out of his coat.

"Hello?" He asked pressing the speaker phone.

"Hello...Sexy" A woman cried.

"Who is this?" Sherlock asked.

"I've sent you a little puzzle just to say hi" She cried.

"Who's talking? Why are you crying?" Sherlock asked her.

"I'm not crying, I'm typing and this stupid bitch is reading it out" She cried.

"Oh my God" I whispered.

"What?" John asked Sherlock who must had said something.

"Nothing" Sherlock told him.

"No, what did you mean?" John asked him.

"I've been expecting this for some time" Sherlock told him.

"You've been expecting?" I said.

"12 hours to solve my puzzle, Sherlock, or I'm going to be so naughty" She cried and hung up.

Uncle Greg left soon and we left for St. Barts with the pair of shoes. Sherlock spent a few hours looking at the shoes, taking samples of dirt from them and a number of other things. I sat on a stool reading a book that I had brought with me. I was almost finished with it, when John walked in to the room.

"So, who do you suppose it was?" John asked after about twenty minutes since he returned.

"Hmm?" Sherlock questioned as he looked through a telescope.

"The woman on the phone, the crying woman?" John asked.

"Oh, she doesn't matter, she's just a hostage. No lead there" Sherlock said and I shook my head.

"She does matter, Sherlock. Her life is on the line" I told him.

"For God's sake, I wasn't thinking about leads" John told him.

"You're not going to be much use to her" Sherlock told us and looked at the computer screen.

"Are they trying to trace it, trace the call?" John asked.

"The bomber's too smart for that" Sherlock said and a ding came from the phone, "Pass me my phone"

"I'll get it John" I told him as I got up from the stool, "Where is it, Sherlock?"

"Jacket" Sherlock told me.

"You're really that lazy?" I asked him and when I didn't get no reply I rolled my eyes and went over to him.

I reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. I checked the phone and saw that Mycroft had texted him.

"You have a text from Mycroft" I told him.

"Delete it" He told me.

"Delete it? Why?" I asked him.

"The missile plans are out of the country now, nothing we can do about it" Sherlock said and I let out a sigh.

"Mycroft think that there is. He's texted you eight times. Must be important" John said as he looked at the phone over my shoulder.

I handed John the phone and stepped to the side.

"Then why didn't he cancel his dental appointment?" Sherlock asked.

How did he know that Mycroft had a dental appointment?

"His what?" John asked.

"Mycroft never texts if he can talk. Look Andrew West stole the missile plans, tried to sell them, got his head smashed in for his pains. End of story. The only mystery is this: Why is my brother so determined to bore me when somebody else is being so delightfully interesting?" Sherlock told him.

"Try and remember there's a woman who might die" John told him.

"What for?" He asked looking at John and I rolled my eyes at that, "There's hospitals full of people dying, Doctor. Why don't you go cry by their bedside and see what good it does them?"

The computer began to beep causing me to jump a bit.

"Ah!" Sherlock said as Molly popped into the room.

"Any luck?" She asked.

"Oh, yes" Sherlock told her as she came over to him.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't..." A man said walking into the room.

"Jim! Hi!" Molly said to the man, "Come in, come in. Jim, this is Sherlock Holmes"

"Ah" He said walking over to us.

"And this is Maria Walkens, his assistant" Molly said looking at me and then to John, "And, uh, sorry..."

"John Watson, hi" John said and I snickered a bit at that.

"Hi" Jim said as he kept his eyes on Sherlock, "So you're Sherlock Holmes. Molly's told me all about you"

From the way Jim was acting I could tell he had a thing for Sherlock.

"Are you on one of your cases?" Jim asked walking around Sherlock.

"Jim works in IT upstairs. That's how we met, office romance" Molly said and I smiled, even though it seemed that Jim played for the other team.

"Gay" Sherlock said after glancing at Jim.

"Sherlock!" I hissed at him.

"Sorry, what?" Molly asked him with a frown on her face.

"Nothing" Sherlock told her, "Um, hey"

"Hi" Jim said as he stood close to Sherlock and accidentally knocked over a dish, "Sorry, sorry. Well, I'd better be off. I'll see you at the Fox, about 6:00-ish?"

"Yeah" Molly told him.

"Bye. It was nice to meet you" Jim told Sherlock.

"You, too" John told him as Sherlock remained quiet, and Jim left the room.

"What do you mean, "gay"?" Molly asked Sherlock, "We're together"

"And domestic bliss must suit you, Molly. You've put on three pounds since I last saw you" Sherlock told her.

"Two and a half" She told him.

"Well, three" Sherlock told her.

"Sherlock" John said before I could scold him.

"He's not gay. Why do you have to spoil... he's not!" Molly told him.

"With that level of personal grooming?" Sherlock asked.

"Because he puts a bit of product in his hair?" John asked him, "I put product in my hair"

"You wash your hair, there's a difference. No, no, tinted eyelashes, clear signs of taurine cream around the frown lines, those tired clubbers' eyes. Then there's his underwear" Sherlock told us.

"His underwear?" Molly asked.

"What does that have to do with him being gay?" I asked him and quickly added when Molly gave me a look, "Which he 'clearly' isn't"

"Visible above the waistline, very visible. Very particular brand. That plus the extremely suggestive fact that he just left his number under this dish here and I'd say you'd better beak it off now and save yourself the pain" Sherlock said and I shook my head at him as Molly left.

"Charming, well done" John said.

"Just saving her time. Isn't that kinder?" Sherlock said.

"Kinder? No, no. Sherlock, that wasn't kind" John told him.

"And you shouldn't have done that to her, Sherlock. It was very rude, and just awful. Now I'm going to go find Molly and make sure she's okay. Try not to hurt anyone else feelings while I'm gone" I told him and quickly left the room.

I found Molly in the morgue crying on the floor. I knocked on the door to let her know I was there. She looked up at me and dab at her eyes with a handkerchief.

"Don't pay any attention to what Sherlock told you. He's an idiot when it comes to love" I told her as I sat next to her on the floor, "And when it's dealing with women"

"I can tell" She mumbled, "Jim's not gay. If he was, then why would he go out with me?"

"You're a kind, sweet woman, that even gay men would love to date" I told her and she gave me a small smile.

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not" She said.

"Take it, because that's what I was trying to do" I told her with a smile and laughed a bit.

"Why does all the good guys have to be gay or be like Sherlock?" She asked.

"That's a mystery that may never be solved" I said and frowned when my phone ding.

I got it out and looked at the screen.

We're leaving.

Hurry.

SH

I let out a sigh and put my phone away.

"Speaking of Sherlock, I have to go. Are you going to be okay?" I asked her as I stood up.

"Yeah, I will. Go and be careful, Maria" She said and I nodded my head.

I quickly left the morgue and met up with Sherlock and John by the the elevator. We left the hospital and got a cab.

"What do you know about Carol Powers?" Sherlock asked John and I as we rode the cab.

"Nothing" John told him.

"Never heard of him" I said.

"1989, young kid, champion swimmer, came up from Brighton for a school sports tournament, drowned in the pool, tragic accident. You wouldn't remember it; why should you?" Sherlock said and held his phone up.

"But you remember?" John asked.

"Yes" Sherlock said.

"He remembers everything, John, except about the solar system of course" I said with a small grin as he gave me a look.

"I thought you understood where I was coming from about that?" He asked.

"Oh, I do. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity" I told him.

"So there was something fishy about it?" John asked bringing us back on track.

"Nobody thought so, nobody except me. I was only a kid myself. I read about it in the papers" Sherlock said.

"Started young, didn't you?" John asked.

"The boy, Carl Powers, had some kind of kit in the water, but by the time they got him out, it was too late. There was something wrong, something I could get out of my head" Sherlock said looking around.  
"What's that?" I asked him.

"His shoes" Sherlock said.

"What about them?" I asked.

"They weren't there. I made a fuss, I tried to get the police interested, but nobody seemed to think it was important. He'd left all the rest of his clothes in his locker, but there was no sign of his shoes. Until now" He said holding the shoes.

"So the shoes the bomber left, was the shoes that belonged to Carl Powers?" I asked him.

"Yes" He said and I looked out the window.

I glanced at my watch and saw that we had six hours left until that woman would died. I hope Sherlock will be able to solve this before our time was up.

Getting to the flat Sherlock sat at the kitchen table going over everything about Carol Powers. From old news articles to files he found on the internet. I helped him out a bit, until John and I had left to get some take out at Angelo's.

When we came back Sherlock was still at the table going over the articles. He even shut the doors to concentrate. John began to pace back and forth as I was curled up on the couch with my laptop going over an article about Carol Power's tragic death. It was ironic. A champion swimmer drowning in a pool.

"Can I help?" John asked Sherlock as he stood by the door he had opened, "I want to help. There's only five hours left"

There was a ding coming from John, and he got his phone out to look at it.

"It's your brother. He's texting me now. How does he know my..." John told him and I glanced at my phone that was turned off.

I turned it on to see that I too had a text from him.

"Don't question it, John. He's a Holmes, and he's texting me too" I told him.

"Must be a root canal" Sherlock said as I got up from the couch as John walked into the kitchen.

"Look, he did say "national importance." John said as I stepped inside the kitchen.

"Hmm, how quaint" Sherlock said.

"What is?" John asked.

"You are. Queen and country" Sherlock said.

"You can't just ignore it" John told him.

"I'm not ignoring it" Sherlock told him, "I'm putting my best man onto it right now and would let Maria help, but I might need her help"

"Right, good" John said crossing his arms, "Who's that?"

I rolled my eyes at that. Of course John wouldn't know it was he who Sherlock was talking about. Sherlock looked up at John for a second before going back to the article.

"It's you, John" I told him.

"Oh!" He said and then went to his room to get ready to meet with Mycroft.

"That was actually kind of you to do that. It gives him something to do and it helps your brother" I told him.

"Don't remind me" He muttered as I sat on a stool across from him with the first aid kit, "How are your hands?"

"They are doing fine. Keeping them cleaned and refreshing the bandages every hour or so" I told him as I un-wrapped my palms.

"Good" He said and I nodded my head as I cleaned the cut.

Two hours had went by since John had left. Sherlock had went to looking at the samples he had gotten from the shoe. I was helping Mrs. Hudson lay out the snack she had brought us.

"Poison" Sherlock said as he looked up from his telescope.

"What are you going on about?" Mrs. Hudson asked him as we turned to look at him.

"_Clostridium botulinum_" Sherlock said slamming his hands down on the table causing me to jump and scaring poor Mrs. Hudson out of the flat.

That's when I noticed John was back and he was wearing a tie.

"What's that?" I asked Sherlock as he turned to John and I.

"It's one of the deadliest poisons on the planet" Sherlock said, "Carl Powers!"

"Are you saying he was murdered?" John asked him.

"It would make sense, but who would want to poison some kid?" I asked and was ignore as Sherlock walked over to the shoelaces that he had hung up.

"Remember the shoelaces? The boy suffered from eczema. It would be the easiest thing in the world to introduce the poison into his medication. Two hours later he comes up to London, the poison takes effect, paralyzes the muscles and he drowns" Sherlock told us as he walked around the kitchen.

"How come the autopsy didn't pick that up?" John asked him.

"It's virtually undetectable and nobody would have been looking for it" Sherlock said as he typed on his blog. But there's still tiny traces left inside the trainers from where he put the cream on his feet. That's why they had to go"

"So how do we let the bomber know?" John asked.

"Get his attention" Sherlock said and checked his watch, "Stop the clock"

"The killer kept the shoes all these years" John said.

"Yes" Sherlock.

"It's odd" I said.

"Meaning..." Sherlock said.

"He's our bomber" John said and the pink phone rung.

We looked at the phone and Sherlock answered it.

"Well done, you" The woman cried, "Come and get me"

"Where are you? Tell us where you are" Sherlock asked.

Once we got the information on where the woman was I called Uncle Greg quickly and informed him. When I got off the phone we left for the police station to await for the news about the woman.

"She lives in Cornwall. Two men broke in wearing masks, forced her to drive to the car park and decked her out in enough explosives to take down a house. Told her to phone you" Uncle Greg told us after a few hours of waiting, "She had to read out from this pager"

John picked the pager up and looked at it.

"And if she deviated by one word, the sniper would set her off" Sherlock said as he walked around the room.

"Or if you hadn't solved the case" John said.

"Either way she would of gone boom" I said.

"Ah! Elegant" Sherlock said.

"Elegant?" John asked.

"How is that elegant?" I asked Sherlock as I looked over at him.

"What was the point? Why would anyone do this?" Uncle Greg asked.

"To get Sherlock's attention?" I asked and was ignored like always.

"Well, I can't be the only person in the world that gets bored" He said and his phone went ding.

"You have one new message" The phone said and this time it was four beeps.

"Four pips" John said.

"They're becoming shorter" I said.

"First test passed, it would seem. Here's the second" Sherlock said and held out his phone to show up a picture of a car, "It's abandoned, wouldn't you say?"

"I'll see if it's been reported" Uncle Greg said taking the phone from Sherlock.

"Freak?" Sally said walking into the room.

I let out a sigh as we all turned to her.

"It's for you" She said holding up her mobile phone.

Sherlock took the phone from Sally and left the office. I looked around the office and noticed a picture that made me feel a little sad. It was a picture of Uncle Greg, Mum, Dad and me sitting on a checkered blanket with a wooden picnic basket. I was around the age of ten.

"I can't believe you still have it" I said getting up from the chair and picking the photo up.

"Yeah, it's one of my favorites" Uncle Greg said as he held the phone up to his ear.

I set the photo down and turned to look at Sherlock. He was on the phone still. John got up and walked out of the office. I followed after him.

"And you've stolen another voice, I presume" Sherlock said and now I knew who he was speaking to.

Another hostage that the bomber had snatched.

"Who are you?" Sherlock asked him, "What's that noise?"

"We found it" Uncle Greg said a minute later as he walked out of his office.

We left the building and got cab that took us to what looked to be an old construction sight or something like it.

"The car was hired yesterday morning by an Ian Monkford, banker of some kind, City boy. Paid in cash" Uncle Greg told us as we walked to the abandon car, "He told his wife he was going away on a business trip and he never arrived."

I stayed behind with John as Uncle Greg and Sherlock went to check around the car.

"You two still hanging 'round him?" Sally asked us.

"Yeah, well..." John began, but Sally cut him off.

"Opposites attract, I suppose" Sally said.

"No, we're not..." John began.

"Who said it was you I was talking about?" She asked and glanced at me.

"Oh yeah, Donovan, me and Sherlock are so in love, we're just bursting at the seams with it. So how are you and Anderson? His wife found out about you two yet?" I asked her and she glared at me before looking at John.

"You should get yourself a hobby, stamps, maybe. Model trains, safer" She said as I walked over to Sherlock and Uncle Greg.

"Tell me again, why you won't fire Donovan?" I asked Uncle Greg as Sherlock checked the car door.

"Because she hasn't done anything to be fired for" Uncle Greg told me, "Before you ask, yes, it's Monksford's blood. DNA checks out"

"No body?" Sherlock asked raising up.

"Not yet" Sally said.

"Get his samples sent to the lab" Sherlock told them and walked over to Mrs. Monksford.

I followed after him to make sure he wasn't going to do or say anything that would hurt or confuse the poor woman, who's husband is probably dead.

"Mrs. Monksford" Sherlock said stopping in front of her.

"Yes" She asked looking at Sherlock, "Sorry, but I've already spoken with two policemen"

"We're not from the police, we're" John began, but Sherlock cut him off.

"Sherlock Holmes, very old friend of your husband's" He said in a tone that sounded like he was about to cry. It was odd hearing him sound like he had an emotion other than bored, sarcastic or seriousness, "We, um... we grew up together"

"I'm sorry, who?" She asked, "I don't think he ever mentioned you"

"Oh, he must have done. This-this is horrible, isn't it?" Sherlock asked us, "I mean, I just can't believe it. I only saw him the other day. Same old Ian, not a care in the world"

"I'm sorry, but my husband has been depressed for months" She said, "Who are you?"

"Really strange that he hired a car. Why would he do that? It's a bit suspicious, isn't it?" Sherlock asked.

"No, it isn't" She told him and I noticed that a tear was falling down his cheek, "He forgot to renew the tax on the car, that's all"

"Oh, well, that was Ian, that was Ian all over" Sherlock said.

"No, it wasn't" She told him.

"Wasn't it?" Sherlock asked her dropping the act, "Interesting"

John and I followed Sherlock as he walked away.

"Why did you lie to her?" John asked and I rolled my eyes at him.

"People don't like telling you things. They love to contradict you" He said.

"I never knew you had the ability to act. It was odd, and scary to see you like that, but it was also amazing" I told him and the corner of his lips twitched upwards.

"Past tense, did you notice?" He asked us.

"Sorry, what?" John asked.

"I referred to her husband in the past tense. She joined in, bit premature. They've only just found the car" Sherlock told us.

"You think she murdered her husband?" John asked.

"It's possible. I see it all the time on the news where a husband or wife killed their spouse" I told him.

"Definitely not. That's not a mistake a murderer would make,and you can't trust the news, Maria. It's garbage" Sherlock told me.

"I see. No, I don't. What do I see?" John asked.

"I too am confused" I said.

"Fishing. Try fishing" Sally shouted out to John as we passed her and the rental.

"Where now?" John asked.

"Janus Cars" Sherlock said and held out a card, "Just found this in the glove compartment.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

We had six hours left to solve this case as we rode a cab to Janus Cars.

"Can't see how I can help you, gentlemen" Mr. Ewart told us after Sherlock spoke to him.

"Mr. Monkford hired the car from you yesterday" John said.

"Yeah, lovely motor. Mazda RX-8. Wouldn't mind one of them myself" He said from behind his desk.

"Is that one?" Sherlock asked pointing to a picture on the wall behind the desk.

"No, they're all Jags. Yeah, I can see you're not a car man" Mr. Ewart said after looking at the picture

"But surely you can afford one. A Mazda, I mean" Sherlock told him.

"Yeah that's a fair point. You know how it is, it's like working in a sweet shop. Once you start picking up the liquorice all sorts, when does it all stop?" He said.

"You didn't know Mr. Monkford?" John asked.

"No, he was just client. Came in here and hired one of my cars. No idea what happened to him, poor sod" He said.

"Nice holiday, Mr. Ewart?" Sherlock said looking at him.

"Eh?" He asked confused.

"You've been away, haven't you?" Sherlock asked him.

"Oh, the... no. it's sunbeds, I'm afraid, yeah" He said and I didn't buy it one bit, "Too busy to get away. My wife would love it though, bit of sun"

"Have you got any change for the cigarette machine?" Sherlock asked him and I looked at him.

He was on the patch. He couldn't smoke with them on! Was he wanting to die?

"What?" Mr. Ewart asked.

"I noticed one on the way in and I haven't got any change, I'm gasping" Sherlock told him holding out some money.

Mr. Ewart got out his wallet and checked it.

"No, sorry" He said.

"Oh well, thank you very much for your time, Mr. Ewart. You've been very helpful" Sherlock said and walked to the door, "Come on, John, Maria"

"I've got change if you still want to..." John began, but Sherlock cut him off.

"Nicotine patches, remember? I'm doing well" Sherlock told us.

"Then why did you ask for change then?" I asked him as we followed him.

"I needed to look inside his wallet" Sherlock told us.

"Why?" John and I asked him.

"Mr. Ewart's a liar" Sherlock told us and we went to St. Barts.

While Sherlock was busy using the lab and John was doing whatever he was doing, I was with Molly in the moruge helping her out a bit.

"So how are you and Jim?" I asked her as she cut open a body.

"Great" She said laying her scalpel down, "I still can't believe Sherlock accused him of being gay"

"I have no idea where he got that thought from" I told her as I looked away from the body as she began to look through it's inside, "Tell me again what you're doing?"

"He was an organ donor, so I have take them out" She told me, "You okay? You look a little pale"

"Uh, yeah, totally fine" I lied as I felt a little sick to my stomach from seeing all that blood and organs.

"You don't have to be here if it's making you uncomfortable" She told me as she placed what looked to be a kidney into a bowl.

I stood up from the chair I sat in and laid a hand on my stomach, before running out of there as I felt like vomiting from seeing the kidney. I rushed into the restroom and emptied my stomach. When I walked out of the stall I splashed water onto my face and dried it off, before walking out of there. As I walked out of the restroom I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going and bumped into someone who was walking quickly towards the staircase.

I fell onto my bottom as the person stopped walking. I looked up at the tall man and saw that it was Sherlock. I let out a sigh as he helped me stand up.

"You seem a little paler than usual" Sherlock said.

"Got a little ill from watching Molly cut open a man" I told him and he nodded his head as we walked towards the stairs, "Found anything?"

"Yes. We need to go look at the car again" Sherlock said.

After finding John, we left the hospital to where the car was. We meet with Uncle Greg. By that time we had three hours to solve this case, before the explosives go off.

Sherlock, John, Uncle Greg and I stood around the car while Sherlock told us about Monksford's blood being frozen and how Janus Car helped him escape to Colombia. It surprised me how he knew where he was at, but after learning that he saw the 20,000 Colombian peso note and some change in Mr. Ewart's wallet, along with the tan line and a booster shot.

"Conclusion: he'd just come back from setteling Ian Monkford into his new life in Colombia. Mrs. Monkford cashes in the life insurance and she splits it with Janus Cars" He told us.

"Mrs. Monford?" John asked.

"She was in on it?" I asked him.

"Oh yes, she's in on it, too. Now go and arrest them, Inspector. That's what you do best. We need to let our friendly bomber know that the case is solved." Sherlock said and we began to walk away, "I am on fire!"

Once back at the flat Sherlock got his laptop and began to type away. A second later after pressing the enter key, the pink phone rung.

"He says you can come and fetch me. Help... help me, please!" The man said and Sherlock smiled as I sent Uncle Greg a text informing him about the man.

The next morning we sat at a little cafe. John and I ate our food, while Sherlock sat across from us without any food as usual.

"Feeling better?" Sherlock asked John.

"Christ, we've hardly stopped for breath since this thing started" John said and took a bite of his food, "Has it occurred to you..."

"Probably" Sherlock said cutting in.

"Has it occurred to you that the bomber's playing a game with you?" John asked him, "The envelope, breaking into the other flat, the dead kid's shoes. It's all meant for you.

"Yes, I know" Sherlock told him.

"Is it him, then? Moriarty?" John asked and I looked up from my plate of food, being reminded of the name that the cab driver had shouted out before he died.

"Perhaps" Sherlock said and the phone ding.

Sherlock touched the screen showing a picture of a smiling woman.

"I wonder what that means" I said looking at the phone as three beeps went off.

"That could be anybody" Sherlock said.

"It could be, yeah" John said, "Lucky for you I've been more than a little unemployed"

"How do you mean?" Sherlock asked looking at him.

"Lucky for you Mrs. Hudson and I watch far too much telly" John said and stood up from the table.

He walked over to the telly in the cafe and turned it on. He turned the channel to a show where the woman from the picture was on. I jumped when the pink phone rung.

"Hello?" Sherlock asked after answering the phone.

I looked at the telly watching the woman on the screen talk about silk purses. John came back to the table and sat down looking at Sherlock.

"Why are you doing this?" Sherlock asked and I looked away from the telly to him.

A few seconds later Sherlock tossed the phone down and looked at the telly.

"_Continuing the sudden death of the populat TV personality Connie Prince. Miss Prince, famous for her makeover programs, was found dead two days ago by her brother in the house they shared in Hampstead"_

When John and I were finished eating we left the cafe for St. Barts. While on the way there Sherlock called Uncle Greg informing him about the new case.

"Connie Prince, 54" Uncle Greg told us reading from a file as we walked into the examination room, "She had one of those makeover shows on the telly, did you see it?"

"No" Sherlock told him as he looked down at the body.

"Very popular. She was going places" Uncle Greg told him.

"Not anymore" He said as John walked over to the body slowly, while I stood a couple of feet away feeling a bit ill from remembering the whole kidney thing at St. Barts, "So, dead two days. According to one of her staff, Raoul de Santos, she cut her hand on a rusty nail in the garden. Nasty wound, tetanus bacteria enters the blood stream. Good night, Vienna"

"I suppose" John said as he bent down to look at the cut.

"So what's wrong with this picture?" Sherlock asked.

"It's too simple?" I questioned from where I stood.

"Can't be as simple as it seems. Otherwise, the bomber wouldn't be directing us towards it. Something's wrong" Sherlock said and began to look at the body more closely.

I took a couple of steps closer towards them as the feeling of being sick to my stomach was fading away.

"John?" Sherlock said as he looked at the body, "The cut on her hand, it's deep, would have bled a lot right?"

"Yeah" John told him.

"But the wound's clean. Very clean and fresh" Sherlock said and looked up from the body, "How long would the bacteria have been incubating inside her?"

"Eight, ten days" John told him.

I was no doctor or anything, but that would mean that the bacteria must have gotten into Ms. Prince some other way. I stood next to John and glanced down at the body. I saw a few scratch marks that looked like was made by a cat. Maybe that was how the bacteria had gotten into her.

"The cut was made later" John said.

"After she was dead?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Must have been" Sherlock said as we looked down at the body, "The only question is, how did the tetanus enter the dead woman's system?"

I was about to mention the cat scratches, but Sherlock kept talking.

"You want to help, right?" Sherlock asked John.

"Of course" John told him.

"Connie Prince's background, family history, everything. Give me data" Sherlock told him.

"Right" John said and began to walk away.

"Maria" Sherlock said and I looked at him, "Go help John"

I nodded my head and left the room walking quickly to catch up with John. We left the hospital and got into a cab.

"So what's the plan?" I asked John as the cab driver drove us.

"We're going to see her brother" He told me and I nodded my head.

Once getting to the Prince residence. John pretended to be a journalist, while I pretended to be his personal assisstant. Ms. Prince's brother ushered us in after learning we were writing an article about the tragic death of his sister. I noticed a man stood close by and I assumed it was the house boy. What did Sherlock say his name was? Roul? No, oh yes! Raoul.

"We're devasted" Mr. Prince told us as he walked to the living room with John and I following him.

"Of course we are" Raoul said as we walked into the room, "Can I get you anything, sir? Miss?"

"No, thank you" I told him sitting in an arm chair with a note pad and pen in my hand.

"No, no, thanks" John said looking up at Raoul as he sat on the couch.

"Raoul is my rock" Mr. Prince told us from where stood by the fireplace, "I don't think I could have managed. We didn't always see eye to eye. But my sister was very dear to me"

A cat meowed and I looked over at John as he put a hairless cat down next to him. So those scratches did belong to a cat. John better be careful with it's claws. Don't want him dying like Ms. Prince did.

"And to the public, Mr. Prince?" John asked him.

"Oh, she was adored. I've seen girls who looked like the back end of root masters and turn them into princesses" He said and the cat meowed again, I glanced at John again and noticed how he didn't like the cat being around him. Was he allergic to them?

"Still it's a relief in a way to know that she's beyong this veil of tears" He said catching my attention. It was a relief to know that his sister was dead, instead of being here with him? How can that be a relief? I didn't feel relieved when my mum died!

"Absolutely" John said as he pet the cat.

"That's a cute a cat. Is he new?" I asked Mr. Prince as I took the cat from John after handing him the pad and pen.

I pet the little hairless thing.

"Yes, I just got him a few weeks ago for Connie as a gift. He loves people, just like my sister" Mr. Prince said and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, it's more common than people think" John said after a few minutes, "Tetanus is in the soil, people cut themselves on rose bushes, garden forks, that sort of thing. If left un...treated"

I looked at Mr. Prince as he sat next to John on the couch a little to close to John's comfort. I bit my bottom lip to hold in the giggle that wanted to escape as Mr. Prince stared at John. It was funny in a way.

"I don't know what I'm going to do now" Mr. Prince told John as I was completely forgotten about by him.

"Right" John said.

"I mean, she's left me this place, which is lovely, but it's not the same without her" Mr. Prince told him.

"That's why my paper wanted to get the full story straight from the horse's mouth" John told him with a uncomfortable tone, "You're sure it's not too soon?"

"No" He told him.

"Right" John said and wrote something down.

"You fire away" Mr. Prince told him as the cat jumped out of my lap.

It's back paw caught on the bandage around my hand putting a bit of pressure on the cut that was slowly healing. I let out a hiss as the cat walked away.

"Um, where's your bathroom at?" I asked Mr. Prince as I stood up needing to clean and check the cut.

"Raoul will show you" He told me and I nodded my head walking out of the living room leaving John to interview Mr. Prince.

Raoul appeared a second after I stepped out of the living room. He showed me to the bathroom and I asked if he had any bandages that I could use. He nodded his head before leaving. He returned shortly and handed me a first aid kit. I thanked him, and walked into the bathroom.

I un-wrapped my hand and checked to see if it was bleeding. Luckily it wasn't. I washed my hands and dried them off gently, before opening the first aid kit. I got out the bottle of disinfectant and spread it onto the cut. I placed it back into the kit and saw a little glass vial hidden. I wrapped my hand quickly and picked the vial up. Printed on a little sticker was the word botox. Why would a vial of botox be here? I thought you could only go to a doctor for botox.

"Is everything okay in there, miss?" Raoul asked knocking on the door.

I placed the vial into my coat pocket and looked at the door.

"Yes, everything is fine" I told him as I shut the kit.

I walked over to the door and opened it.

"Thank you" I told him as I placed the kit into his hand, and walked to the living room.

I sat down on the arm chair as John sipped on a cup of tea.

"Everything all right?" He asked me and I nodded my head.

"Yes. I just had to change my bandages" I told him.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Mr. Prince asked me as he fixed his hair in the mirror.

"No, thank you" I told him.

"I called our photographer, Sherlock. He should be here soon" John told me and I nodded my head.

A few minutes later the doorbell rung signaling that Sherlock was here.

"That'll be him" John said.

"What?" Mr. Prince asked as he kept fixing his hair.

"Ah, Mr. Prince, isn't it?" Sherlock asked walking into the room quickly and over to Mr. Prince.

"Yes" He said turning to Sherlock.

"Very good to meet you" Sherlock told him and shook his hand.

"Thank you" He said.

"So sorry to hear about..." Sherlock began.

"Yes, yes, very kind" Mr. Prince said cutting him off.

"Shall we, uh..." John said and Sherlock walked over to us.

"You were right; the bacteria got into her another way" John told him.

"Oh, yes?" Sherlock said.

"Yes" John said and I was about to mention the cat like before, but Mr. Prince cut in asking if we were ready.

Sherlock walked over to Mr. Prince and began to take his picture.

"Not too close" Mr. Prince told him, "I'm raw from crying"

"Oh, who's this?" Sherlock asked as the cat rubbed against Sherlock's leg.

"Sekhmet, named after the Egyptian goddess" Mr. Prince told him.

"How nice" Sherlock said, "Was she Connie's?"

"Yes, little present from yours truly" Mr. Prince said as both him and John bent down to the cat.

Mr. Prince picked him up to show Sherlock Sekhmet.

"Sherlock, light reading?" John said.

"Oh, uh..." Sherlock said and began to flash Mr. Prince.

"Bloody hell, why are you looking there?" Mr. Prince asked and Sherlock apologized as he kept flashing the light on him, while John checked the cat, "You're like Laurel and bloody Hardy, you two. What's going on?"

"Actually I think we've got what we came for. Excuse us" John said.

"What?" Mr. Prince asked confused.

"We're in a bit of a rush. Sorry" I told him as John walked away.

"Sherlock? Maria?" John said and I wondered when John and Sherlock traded places.

"What?" Sherlock asked, before following after John.

"We've got deadlines" John said,

"But you've not taken anything!" Mr. Prince said as we left.

Once outside we walked away from the house chuckling.

"You think it was the cat?" Sherlock asked.

"What else would it be?" I asked him.

"It wasn't the cat" He told me.

"Yes, it is. It must be" John told him, "That's how he got the tetanus into her system. Its paws stink of disinfectant"

"Lovely idea" Sherlock said.

"He coated it into the claws of her cat. New pet, bound to be a bit jumpy around her. A scratch is almost inevitable" John said.

"And there was scratches on her arm" I told him.

"I thought of it the minute I saw the scratches on her arm, but it's too random and too clever for the brother" Sherlock told us.

"He murdered his sister for her money" John said.

"Did he?" Sherlock asked.

"Didn't he?" John asked.

"No. He wants revenge" Sherlock said.

"Revenge? Who wanted revenge?" John asked him.

"Raoul, the houseboy" Sherlock said and I remembered the botox.

Raoul must have put the tetanus into the botox. When it was time for her to get an injection, he would give her the shot, sending the bacteria into her.

"Kenny Prince was the butt of his sister's jokes week in, week out, virtual bullying campaign. Finally he had enough, fell out with her badly. It's all on the website. She threatened to disinherit Kenny. Raoul had grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle" Sherlock told us and stopped when John stopped him.

"What about the disinfectant, then, on the cat's claws?" He asked.

"Raoul keeps a very clean house. You came through the kitchen door, saw the state of that floor, scrubbed to within an inch of its life. _You_ _two_ smell of disinfectant. No, the cat doesn't come into it. Raoul's internet records do, though. I hope we can get a cab from here" Sherlock said and continued on walking.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

**AN: I am moving on Wednesday, so I'm a bit busy with packing, so I won't be updating until I get internet.**

* * *

We got a cab and made our way to the hospital to get some records on Connie's second autopsy.

"I think I know how he did it" I told Sherlock at the hospital as he looked over the files.

He looked over at me.

"It was botox. I found a vial of it when I was changing my bandages. Raoul could've put the tetanus in to it" I told him and held the vial out to him that I had took.

Sherlock took the vial from me and looked at it.

"You are right, Maria. With this we have solid evidence that he did it" Sherlock said standing up.

We left the hospital and went to the police station with only one hour left before our time was up.

"Raoul de Santos is your killer" Sherlock said walking into the room that Uncle Greg was in, "Kenny Prince's house boy. Second autopsy shows it wasn't tetanus that poisoned Connie Prince, it was botulinum toxin. We've been here before. Carl Powers? Tut tut, our bomber's repeating himself"

"So how did he do it?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Botox injection" I told him.

"Botox!" Uncle Greg said sounding surprised.

"Botox is a diluted form of botulinum. Among other things, Raoul de Santos was employed to give Connie her regular facial injections. My contact at the Home Office gave me the complete records of Raoul's Internet purchases. He's been bulk-ordering Botox for months, bided his time, then upped the strength to a fatal dose. Like this one that Maria had found at Connie Prince house" Sherlock said and held up the vial.

"Are you sure about this?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"I'm sure" Sherlock told him.

"All right, my office" Uncle Greg told us I followed him as John spoke to Sherlock for a second.

In Uncle Greg's office Sherlock got onto his website and wrote that it had Raoul. A second later the pink phone rung. Sherlock picked it up and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" He said, "Tell us where you are. Address? No, no, no, tell me nothing about him, nothing. Hello?"

"Sherlock?" Uncle Greg asked and I frowned wondering what had happened.

"What's happened?" John asked him.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him as he lowered the phone down and I looked down at my feet knowing that old woman was dead.

The next morning we sat in the living room watching the news. There had been another 'gas' explosion this time killing 12 people.

"I can't believe this" John said shaking his head looking at the telly, "He certainly gets about"

"Well, obviously I lost that round, although technically I did solve the case" Sherlock said turning the channel.

John and I looked at him.

"He killed the old lady because she started to describe him. Just once, he put himself in the firing line" Sherlock said.

"What do you mean?" John asked him.

What did Sherlock mean?

"Well, usually he must stay above it all. He organizes these things, but no one ever has direct contact" Sherlock said.

"Hmm, what, like the Connie Prince murder? He arranged that? People come to him wanting their crimes fixed up like book a holiday?" John asked.

"Novel" Sherlock whispered.

"Huh" John said and looked at the telly as it showed Raoul being surrrounded by the papparazi as he makes his way to a car.

"Taking his time this time" Sherlock said.

"Maybe it's a good thing" I told him.

"How is that a good thing?" He asked me and I shrugged my shoulders.

"You know take a breather, before going all over London looking for clues and killers" I told him as John cleared his throat.

"Anything on the Carl Powers case?" John asked him.

"Nothing" Sherlock told him, "All the living classmates check out, spotless, no connection"

"Maybe the killer was older than Carl" John said.

"Why would someone older than Carl kill him?" I asked him, but I was ignored.

"The thought had occurred" Sherlock said.

"So why is he doing this, then, playing this game with you? Do you think he wants to be caught?" John asked Sherlock.

"I think he wants to be distracted" Sherlock told him and he chuckled getting up from his seat.

"I hope you'll be very happy together" John told him and walked into the kitchen.

"Sorry, what?" Sherlock asked him as he turned around.

"There are lives at stake! Sherlock, actual, human lives. Just so I know, do you care about them at all?" John asked him angrily as I sat quiet letting John talk to him.

"Will caring about them help save them?" He asked.

"Nope" John said.

"Then I'll continue not to make that mistake" Sherlock told him.

"And you find that easy, do you?" John asked.

"Yes, very. Is that news to you?" Sherlock told him

"No, no" John told him.

"I've disappointed you" Sherlock told him.

"It's good, it's good deduction, yeah" John told him.

"Don't make people into heroes, John. Heroes don't exist and if they did, I wouldn't be one of them" Sherlock told him and the pink phone ding, "Excellent! A view of the Thames, South Bank somewhere between Southwark Bridge and Waterloo. You check the papers, Maria and I will look online"

"Why don't I check the papers. John can go get some fresh air" I said quickly seeing how John was looking down and being quiet.

"Oh, you're angry with me so you won't help" Sherlock said and I felt like smacking him as he began to mess with his phone, "Not much cop, this caring lark"

I was about to go over to the couch when John walk silently over to the couch and sat down flipping through the papers.

"Suicide..." John began as I sat in his chair with my laptop typing away on the _Google _search bar.

"Turn the page" Sherlock said and I kicked him in the shin lightly giving him a look, "Please"

"Thank you" I whispered to him as I looked back at the laptop screen.

"Two kids stabbed in Stoughton" John said setting one of the papers down, "Ah, man found on the train line, Andrew West"

"Nothing" Sherlock said and called someone, "It's me. Have you found anything on the South Bank between Waterloo Bridge and Southward Bridge?... Darn"

Sherlock hung up and began to look at his phone once again. I set my laptop down and glanced over at John who was still looking at the paper.

"Can I speak with you for a minute?" I asked Sherlock.

"Speak" Sherlock said.

"Alone" I told him.

"I'm going to go out for some dinner" John said and left the flat.

When I was sure he was gone, that's when I smacked Sherlock on the arm. He gave me a 'Why are you hitting me' look.

"What the bloody hell is your problem!?" I shouted at him, "You know John cares about the people that are being killed! As am I! You should at least pretend that you care about them!"

"Why should I?" He said and I smacked his arm again, "Quit hitting me. You'll hurt your hand more"

"I don't care about my hand! What I care about is that you are going to ruin your friendship with John if you keep being like this" I told him.

"Being like what?" He asked.

"A heartless bastard" I told him, "You're lucky, I look pass all of your...weirdness"

"I am not a heartless bastard" He said, "I'm a high"

"Functioning sociopath. I know, Sherlock. It's just you need to put a little care about the people. What if someone you cared about was in danger of dying, how would you feel? The people have families who worry about them" I told him and he stayed silent, "Just try at least to pretend to care about them around John. He's a good friend"

I shut my laptop and walked into the kitchen to make me a cup of tea. I would make Sherlock one, but he doesn't drink or eat during times like these. John came back soon with take out from the chinese resturant. While he and I ate our food, Sherlock was still on his phone doing what ever he was doing.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

**AN: Sorry it's been a while since I last updated, I've been without internet. I finally got it! Yay! Also I started an rpg site called Ravenstone Academy for Proboards. If you're interested in it, just look at the bottom of this chapter for more information. Now enjoy this wonderful chapter that everyone has been dying to read!**

* * *

Early in the morning the next day Sherlock had barged into my room telling me to get dressed quickly that we had to leave. After throwing my alarm clock at his head, which he dodged and making him leave, I got out of my bed and got dressed.

I sipped on the cup of coffee as we walked towards Uncle Greg who stood next to a dead man's body.

"Do you reckon this is connected, then, the bomber?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Must be" Sherlock told him, "Odd, though; he hasn't been in touch"

"That can't be a good thing" I muttered before taking another sip of coffee.

"We must assume that some poor bugger's primed to explode, yeah?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Yes" Sherlock told him.

"Any ideas?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Seven, so far" Sherlock told him looking down at the body.

"Seven?" Uncle Greg said sounding surprised.

"I wouldn't be surprised, Uncle Greg. He is Sherlock" I told him and yawned as Sherlock bent down next to the body looking at it.

I watched as Sherlock checked the man's pocket and then checked his shirt, before taking the man's sock off looking at his foot. After he was done looking at the foot, Sherlock stood up and backed away from it, as John silently asked permission from Uncle Greg to look at the body, in which Uncle Greg gave him the okay too do so.

John bent down and began to check the man's body, while Sherlock got out his phone.

"He's been dead about 24 hours, maybe a bit longer" John told us, "Did he drown?"

"Apparently not. Not enough of the Thames in his lungs. Asphyxiated" Uncle Greg told him.

"Yes, I'd agree" John said, "There's quite a bit of bruising around the nose and the mouth. More bruises here and here"

"Finger tips" Sherlock said and I glanced at him.

"So he was murdered?" I questioned and was ignored.

"He's late 30s, I'd say, not in the best condition" John said.

"He's been in the river for a while now. The water's destroyed most of the data" Sherlock said, "But I'll tell you one thing, that lost Vermeer painting's a fake"

"Vermeer painting? What does that have to do with this man?" I asked.

"What?" Uncle Greg asked confused as much as I was.

"We need to identify the corpse, find out about his friends and associates" Sherlock began, but Uncle Greg stopped him.

"What painting, what are you on about?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"It's all over the place. Haven't you seen the posters? Dutch Old Master" Sherlock told him.

"Not really" I told him.

"It was supposed to be destroyed centuries ago and now it's turned up, worth 30 million" Sherlock said.  
"Okay, so what has that got to do with the stiff?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Everything" Sherlock told him, "Have you ever heard of the Golem?"

"The creature with the ring from Lord of the Rings?" I asked.

"It's Golem, not Gollum, Maria" Uncle Greg told me and I blushed a bit feeling stupid.

"Golem, it's a horror story, isn't it? What are you saying?" John asked.

"Jewish folk story, a gigantic man made of clay. It's also the name of an assassin, real name Oskar Dzundza, one of the deadliest assassins in the world. That is his trademark style" Sherlock told us.

"So this is a hit?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Definitely. The Golem squeezes the life out of his victims with his bare hands" Sherlock said and I glanced down at the dead man's neck.

He was defiantly squeezed to death.

"But what has this got to do with that painting? I don't see..." Uncle Greg asked him.

I looked up from the dead man and looked at Sherlock.

"You do see, you just don't observe" Sherlock said.

"All right, all right" John said trying to stop them before they get out of hand.

"Calm down. You two are acting like girls" I joined in.

"Sherlock, do you want to take us through it?" John asked as the two looked over at us.

"What do we know about this corpse?" Sherlock asked, "The killer's not left us with much, just the shirt and the trousers. Both pretty formal, maybe he was going out for the night. The trousers are heavy duty, polyester, nasty, same as the shirt, cheap. They're both too big for him, so some kind of standard issue uniform. Dressed for work, then. What kind of work? There's a hook on his belt. For a walkie-talkie"

"Tub driver?" Uncle Greg questioned and I looked at Sherlock wondering if that was the correct answer, but by the look on Sherlock's face told me he was wrong.

"Security guard?" John asked looking up at Sherlock.

"More likely. That's be borne out by his backside" Sherlock said.

"Backside?" Uncle Greg asked.

"Flabby" Sherlock told him, "You'd think that he'd led a sedentary life, yet the sole of his feet and the nascent varicose veins in his legs show otherwise. So a lot of walking and a lot of sitting around. Security guard's looking good. And the watch helps too"

"Watch? What watch?" I asked him.

"The one on his wrist" Sherlock said rolling his eyes and I blushed in embarrassment, "The alarm shows he did regular night shifts."

"What regular?" Uncle Greg asked him, "Maybe he just set his alarm like that the night before he died"

"No, no, no, the buttons are stiff, hardly touched. He set his alarm like that a long time ago. His routine never varied, but there's something else. The killer must have been interrupted, otherwise he would have stripped the corpse completely. There was some kind of badge or insignia on the shirt front that he tore off, suggesting the dead man worked somewhere recognizable, some kind of institution. Found this inside his trouser pockets." Sherlock said holding up a ball of paper that had been soaked by the water, "Sodden by the river, but still recognizably."

"Tickets?" John asked squinting his eyes at the ball.

"Ticket stubs." Sherlock said turning to John, "He worked in a museum or gallery. Did a quick check. The Hickman Gallery has reported..."

"One of their workers are missing?" I asked him.

"Yes, Alex Woodbridge." Sherlock said, "Tonight they unveil the rediscovered masterpiece. Now, why would anyone want to pay the Golem to suffocate a perfectly ordinary gallery attendant? Inference: the dead man knew something about it, something that would stop the owner getting paid 30 million pounds. The picture's a fake."

"Wow." I said and would have clapped my hands if it wasn't for the cup of coffee in my hand.

"Fantastic!" John said.

"Meretricious." Sherlock said.

"And a happy new year." Uncle Greg said and I rolled my eyes.

"Poor sod." John said looking down at the dead man.

"I'd better get my feelers out for this Golem character." Uncle Greg said.

"Pointless, you'll never find him, but I know a man who can." Sherlock said and I looked up at him.

"You do?" I asked.

"Who?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"Me." Sherlock said and began to walk away.

"You better not let Maria get killed! I'll have your head if she does!" Uncle Greg shouted at Sherlock as he walked away.

"We best get going, John." I said and ran after Sherlock.

When John and I caught up with Sherlock he had already held a cab. We got in and the ride was in silence, until Sherlock brought up Moriarty.

"Why hasn't he phoned?" Sherlock asked, "He's broken his pattern. Why?"

"Maybe he switching it around. To confuse you, or a distraction of some sort." I said.

"Waterloo Bridge." he told the cabbie.

What was at Waterloo Bridge?

"Where now, the gallery?" John asked him.

"In a bit." Sherlock told him.

"The Hickman's contemporary art, isn't it?" John asked, "Why have they got hold of an Old Master?"

"Don't know. Dangerous to jump to conclusions. I need data." Sherlock said as he wrote in a little black note book.

"You've been quiet, Maria. Not feeling well?" John asked me and shook my head while holding in a yawn.

"I'm just tired that's all." I told him and let out a yawn.

That what happens when Sherlock barges into your room early in the morning. Git.

I closed my eyes to rest them for a moment, but I opened them when Sherlock shouted at the driver to stop.

"Can you wait here?" Sherlock asked him as the driver stopped, "I won't be a moment."

I got out of the cab and hopped over the railing with the help of Sherlock. When I was safety on the other side Sherlock walked away quickly towards the bridge. I let out a breath and followed him quickly.

"Change? Any change?" A homeless woman asked as she sat on a bench.

"What for?" Sherlock asked her as we walked over to her.

"Cup of tea, of course." She told him.

"I've only got 50." Sherlock told her as he gave her the money along with the piece of paper that he had folded into it.

"Thanks." she said as Sherlock walked away.

That was it? I thought he knew a way to find this Golem guy, not give the homeless money for tea. I think he's losing his mind.

"What are you doing?" John asked him as we followed after him.

"Investing." Sherlock said.

"Investing in what?" I asked him.

"All in due time, Maria." he said.

I rolled my eyes. Yep, he's definitely losing his mind.

"Now we go to the gallery." Sherlock told us as we got into the cab, "Have you got any cash?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded my head.

"You're in luck, Sherlock. I got some left over from getting some coffee this morning." I told him as I got into the seat next to him.

"Good." Sherlock said.

* * *

**Now how was that for a chapter? I know it's short and all, but I got to get back into the whole writing thing again! Now onto some information about my new little site that I had made. It just turned a month old today. **

Easy Application, fast sorting, 1 month old, haunted boarding school for troubled students. W/C 100. Need students and in most need of school staff!

**The Plot:** Hidden from the world is an academy for students who have trouble lives. At the academy the students will be taken care of and will be taught the basic stuff of school. Reading, Spelling, Math, History, Science, Fine Arts and Physical Education. They will also have a choice in choosing two electives to take.

**The Students We Take...**

Now here at Ravenstone Academy we do not take the criminals, or the mentally unstable. We take the ones who have been neglected, abandoned, the hurt, the scared, children who wants a better life, or ones that the states are giving them.

**Everything May Seem like a Dream, but it's Not...**

The Academy may seem like a dream place to some students, but deep in it's wall is nothing more than a nightmare. The Academy was once an old mansion to the family known as Ravenstone. Alfred Ravenstone, the man who had built the academy in the late 1800's, was known to bring travelers who needed a place to sleep into his home. It has been said that no one had ever seen anyone leave that place once stepping inside. But you may see them wondering the grounds or the halls.

It has been reported that over the years that spirits of the people who have died at Ravenstone can be seen wondering around.

**The History is in the Past?**

Ravenstone Academy has been many things in it's many years. It was once a mansion for a very rich family, who murdered travelers for their money and items. It was said that they had once killed a traveling psychic. She had placed a cursed on the mansion stating that the spirits that die here will not be at rest, but to roam the halls and grounds of the mansion, until their story are told.

**Will you be the one to find out their story and set them free?**

Ravenstone was turned into a hospital after Mr. Ravenstone and his wife died of unknown causes. While as a hospital, many people had died. Of diseases, gun shot wounds, accidents, and unknown causes. Could it be the ghosts of Ravenstones causing people deaths by unknown causes? When the hospital shut down in 1930, Ravenstone was left alone, until 1940 where it was turned into a nursing home for old people. It had shut down in 2000 and has been closed ever since, until the Headmistress had founded the school.

**Ravenstone Academy is a haunted boarding school for students who have had a hard life. The school it self has been opened for five months so far. It is based in a fictional town called Burrows End, T.N. **

**ravenstoneacademy**** [delete this and the space] .proboards [delete this and the space **

**If the link doesn't work, just go to google and type Ravenstone Academy Proboards. Should be the first site on there. Also if you join the site, you won't have to find the secret code in the application, just put there that you're from fanfiction.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

Once getting to the museum, Sherlock and I got out of the cab. When John was getting out, Sherlock stopped him.

"No, I need you to find out all you can about the gallery attendant. Lestrade will give you the address." Sherlock told him.

"Oh, okay." John said, "What about Maria though?"

"She'll be with me." Sherlock told him and walked away with John shutting the door.

I followed Sherlock to the museum.

"What are we doing?" I asked Sherlock as I followed him through a door that said employees only.

"We are going to find some answers." Sherlock said as he walked into a security office.

I stood by the door as he searched through a locker.

"Guard the door." he told me as he took off his coat and scarf.

I let out a sigh and turned around watching the door.

"So where is this painting at?" I asked him as I heard the sound of his changing his shirt, "W-What are you doing?"

I turned my head around to see him buttoning up his shirt.

"Getting dressed." he said, "And the painting is in the gallery."

"I mean why are you dressing up as a security guard?" I asked him as he placed a hat on his head.

"Disguise." he said handing me his shirt, coat, and scarf, "Now go wait for me outside. I won't take, but a moment."

"Sherlock." I said as he left the room quickly.

When he was gone I let out a sigh. As I was about to leave the room, I noticed two security guards walking into the room. I jumped behind a large file cabinet as the two men walked into the room.

"Yeah, I think so." One of the guards told the other.

"But did you hear about Woodbridge. Found dead swimming with the lil fishes."

"Yeah, I did hear about the poor lazy git."

"Oi, haven't you ever learned to respect the dead? He may had been a lazy git, but you shouldn't say that."

"What afraid of a little ghost? What are ya chicken?"

I moved a bit when one of the guards came to the file cabinet. When I had moved I accidentally knocked over a stack of papers. I bit my bottom lip and mentally cursed my clumsy feet.

"Wh-What was that?" one of the guards gasp in fear.

"Look at what ya did, Phil, you pissed him off!"

"Me? You're the one calling him a poor lazy git! He's mad at you!"

"I'm out of here before I end up dead."

"Yeah, let's go. We're sorry Woodbridge, please don't hurt us."

I rolled my eyes at them as they ran from the room. I quickly left the room and left the museum. I walked to the side of the museum to see Sherlock walking out of the side door.

"There you are. What took you so long?" Sherlock asked me as he took his clothing.

"Almost got caught by some guards." I told him.

"Got away easily?" he asked me.

"Yeah, they thought I was Alex Woodbridge's ghost coming to haunt them." I told him laughing a bit.

"What it must be like to be that simple minded." Sherlock sighed as we walked.

"You don't believe in ghosts?" I asked him.

"No, do you?" he asked me.

"Not really, but I do believe in monsters." I told him.

"Mm." he said.

We walked a bit, until we could get a cab. We went back to the flat, waiting for John. Well I was, as Sherlock was on John's laptop looking stuff up. While we waited, I called my father to see how he was. He was fine, still asked me to come visit him soon. Who knows, I might take a break once this case is over.

As time went by and as it got dark, Sherlock decided to leave the flat. I followed him out the door where we met John.

"Alex Woodbridge didn't know anything special about art." John told us.

"And?" Sherlock asked him.

"And..." John said.

"Is that it? No habits, hobbies, personality?" Sherlock asked him as he walked over the homeless woman from earlier.

"Give us a chance. He was an amateur astronomer." John told him.

"Hold that cab." Sherlock told us.

John went over to the cabbie, while I stood there watching Sherlock took a piece of paper from the woman.

"Come on, Maria." Sherlock told me as he walked over to John and the cab, "Fortunately I haven't been idle. Come on."

Once in the cab, Sherlock gave the driver the information and were soon off. The ride was in silence. No one said a word, I dozed off once in a while, but Sherlock kept waking me.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sherlock asked and I looked up at him, to see that he was looking up at the sky.

"Yeah." I said looking at the stars.

"I thought you didn't care about things like that." John said.

"Doesn't mean I can't appreciate it." Sherlock told him as we walked.

As we walked into a tunnel, John began to tell us about Woodbridge about this message the he had on his phone. Before he could go on about this professor, Sherlock cut him off.

"This way." he said.

"Nice." John said.

"I wouldn't want to get lost in here." I commented as I followed John and Sherlock.

"Nice part of town." John said.

"Agreed." I said.

"Any time you want to explain?" John asked as we waked to a opening.

"Please, I'm a bit confused what this place is." I said.

"Homeless network. Really is indispensable." Sherlock told us.

"I see." I said and looked around.

"Homeless network." John said turning a flashlight on.

"My eyes and ear all over the city." Sherlock went on.

"Oh, that's... clever." John said.

"And very useful." I said as I looked to where John was looking.

"So you scratch their back and..." John continued.

"Yes, and I disinfect myself." Sherlock told him and walked into the opening with a flashlight.

I kept myself between John and Sherlock, since I didn't have a flashlight. If I knew we were going into this dark creepy tunnel I would have.

I jumped when John shined his light on a man who was standing in the shadow. I hated this place and wanted nothing more than to run out of there screaming my head off.

"Sherlock! Come on!" John whispered quickly.

I turned to look at him and was grabbed from behind. Who ever had a hold of me dragged me to the wall and placed their gloved hand over my mouth so my scream couldn't be heard.

"It's just me." Sherlock whispered to me, and I calmed.

Thank God it wasn't some creep, but what was going on now?

"What's he doing sleeping rough?" John asked after Sherlock let me go.

I popped my head out from behind the pillar to see this giant shadow of man.

"Well, he has a very distinctive look." Sherlock told him as he pushed me back a bit, "He has to hide somewhere where tongues won't wag, much."

"Oh... sh...!" John gasped.

"What?" Sherlock asked him.

"I wish I..." John began, but stopped when Sherlock handed him his gun.

I thought the bloody thing was locked away!

"Don't mention it." Sherlock told him as I looked out from behind the pillar to see the man running.

"Sherlock!" I said quickly in a whisper to inform him.

When Sherlock saw the man running, we went after him. Well Sherlock and John did. I followed them.

"No! No! No!" Sherlock said as the man got into a car and was gone.

"Great," I sighed.

"It'll take us weeks to find him again." Sherlock said.

"Or not. I've an idea where he might be going." John told him.

"What?" Sherlock asked him.

"You do?" I asked him.

"I told you. Someone left Alex Woodbridge a message. There can't be that many Professor Cairns in the book. Come on." John said and went off.

We left the tunnels to find this Professor Cairns. Sherlock believed we could find her at the Planetarium. And we did, in a way. When we got there we found the Golem strangling the poor old woman.

"Golem!" Sherlock shouted as John got out his gun aiming it at the man.

Sherlock had gotten his attention. He easily snapped the woman's neck, and threw her to the ground. On the way to the ground the woman's hand must had hit something on the controls. The lights were blinking on and off. The narration of the stars was skipping making it ten times worst as it was.

"John." Sherlock said, "Maria."

"I can't see." John said, "I'll go around I'll go."

"I'll try to get the lights and stuff." I told him and ran off.

I jumped off the stage and ran to the control system.

"How do you work this thing?" I muttered as I looked around at the things. I looked up to see and gasped when I saw the Golem behind Sherlock. "Sherlock! Behind you!"

It was to late the Golem grabbed Sherlock. I was about to run to help him, but stopped when I saw John. I looked back down at the controls once more. I pressed a button that made a black hole and such to appear. I cursed and pressed another button. The damn sound rewinded somemore. I pressed two more buttons quickly to stop it. The light began to change colors, and the sounds began to skip again.

"Come on you bloody thing, work!" I shouted at as I kicked it, causing the sound to stop skipping, "Thank you!"

I looked up to see how Sherlock and John was doing. I flinched when I saw the Golem strike Sherlock making him fall down easily. Then began to smother him. John jumped on the Golems back to get him off of Sherlock.

I pressed another button hoping it to be the lights, but it was the sound. I pressed another button hoping that this time it was the lights. I was close though, the button made the lights blink. I looked up once again to see the Golem running towards the way to exit, which was right behind me.

I quickly ducked behind the control panel when Sherlock shot John's gun. It was a good thing I did, or I would've been shot. Sherlock shot once more as the Golem ran out the door. I raised up from behind the panel and pressed a red button, turning the lights on and the sound off.

"Got it," I said and let out a breath.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

When the next day came we went back to the Museum, this time with Uncle Greg.

"It's a fake, it has to be." Sherlock said as we all stood by the painting.

"The painting has been subjected to every test known to science." the woman told us as Sherlock was on his phone.

"It's a very good fake, then." Sherlock said looking up at the painting then turning to her, "You know about this, don't you? This is you, isn't it?"

"Inspector, my time is being wasted. Would you mind showing yourself and your friends out?" she told Uncle Greg and I bit the inside of my cheek in anger.

We were wasting her time? She was wasting ours! I believed Sherlock, she knew about the painting! Why not just tell us? Sensing my anger Uncle Greg pulled me away from the woman.

"The painting is a fake." Sherlock said and I looked over at him to see he was speaking to the pink phone, "It's a fake. That's why Woodbridge and Cairns were killed." No answer, "Oh, come on! Proving it's just a detail. The painting is a fake. I've solved it, I've figured it out. It's a fake, that's the answer. That's why they were killed. Okay, I will prove it. Give me time. Will you give me time?"

"Ten." A child said and I let out a gasp covering my mouth with a hand.

"It's a kid." Uncle Greg said as Sherlock went to looking at the photo, "Oh, God, it's a kid."

"What did he say?" John asked.

"Ten." Sherlock said

"Nine." The child said again.

"It's a countdown, he's giving me time." Sherlock said.

"This man is a monster." I said shaking my head.

Who would do such a thing to a kid? I hoped Sherlock was able to find what ever it was to save the kid.

"Jesus!" Uncle Greg said looking away.

"It's a fake, but how can I prove it? How, how?" Sherlock said.

"Eight."

"This kid will die. Tell me why the painting is a fake! Tell me!" Sherlock told the woman.

"Seven."

"No, shut up." Sherlock told her, "Don't say anything. It only works if I figure it out."

I looked down at the ground as the child counted and Sherlock was searching for the answer.

"Six."

"Five."

"He's speeding up." Uncle Greg said.

"Sherlock!" John said.

"Oh, God!" I gasped.

"Oh!" Sherlock gasped.

"Four."

"Oh, in the planetarium, you two heard it too. That is brilliant, that is gorgeous." Sherlock said gave John the phone and walked away from the painting.

"Three."

What was he going on about? He had three seconds before that kid is killed and he was going on about something. Has he finally lost his mind?

"What's brilliant?" John asked him.

"What is?" Uncle Greg asked him.

"This is beautiful. I love this!" Sherlock said.

"Two."

"Sherlock!" Uncle Greg and I shouted at him.

"The Van Buren supernova." Sherlock shouted into the phone that he took back from John.

The ticking stopped and I let out a breath of relief when I heard the child spoke.

"There you go." Sherlock told Uncle Greg as he gave him the pink phone, "Go find out where he is and pick him up."

Thank God Sherlock was able to figure it out.

"The Van Buren supernova, so-called. Exploding star. Only appeared in the sky in 1858." Sherlock said holding his phone up, before walking off.

"So how could it have been painted in the 1640s?" John said.

"Such a simple mistake, and yet a big one." I said shaking my head before walking off to find Sherlock.

"You know, it's interesting. Bohemian stationary, an assassin named after a Prague legend, not a creature from a movie, Maria, and you, Miss Wenceslas. This whole case has a distinctly Czech feeling about it. Is that where this leads?" Sherlock said as we all sat in Uncle Greg's office, "What are we looking at, Inspector?"

"Well, criminal conspiracy, fraud, accessory after the fact at the very least." Uncle Greg said, "The murder of the old woman, all the people in the flats."

"I didn't know anything about that." she said, "All those things, please, believe me!"

I glanced over at Sherlock who was looking at Uncle Greg. He nodded his head once, and knew that she was telling the truth. How did he know this stuff?

"I just wanted my of the 30 million." she told us, "I found a little old man in Argentina, genius, I mean, really. Brushwork immaculate. Could fool anyone. Well, nearly anyone. But I didn't know how to go about convincing the world the picture was genuine. It was just an idea a spark which he blew into a flame."

"Who?" Sherlock asked her.

"I don't know." the woman told us and Uncle Greg made a sound that told us he didn't believe us, "It's true. It took a long time, but eventually I was put in touch with people... his people. But there was never any real contact."

I looked over at Sherlock to see that he was interested at what she was saying now. Like he was figuring it all out.

"Just messages, whisperers." she said.

"And did those whispers have a name?" Sherlock asked her.

"Moriarty." she said.

With that new information, Sherlock and I left the station.

"So it's been Moriarty all this time. That guy has some serious problems." I told Sherlock as we walked down the sidewalk, "Do you think he fancies you a bit?"

"I don't know and I don't care." he told me as he had a thoughtful look on his face.

"So where are we going?" I asked him.

"Train tracks." he said.

"Why there?" I asked him.

"You don't like trains?" he asked me.

"No, it's just you always has some sort of secret agenda up in the curly head of yours." I told him we stopped to call a taxi.

"I see." he said and held a taxi.

We got into the taxi and it was in silence. Sherlock was staring out the window in silence, while I was going through my phone. My heart jumped when I saw that I had one new text message from someone that I hadn't heard from since my mother's death. I turned my phone off quickly and put into my pocket. I wasn't ready to read it, especially here in a taxi with Sherlock next to me. He'd know something was up.

"You okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So where's John?" I asked him.

"Train tracks. He's doing something for my brother." Sherlock told him.

"And we're either going to help or stop him." I told him.

"Yes." he said with out telling me which one we were going to be doing.

When we got to tracks, I paid for the cab as Sherlock walked off. I had to run to catch up with him, by then he had scared John.

"Yes!" John said standing up.

"I knew you'd get there eventually. West wasn't killed here. That's why there was so little blood." Sherlock told him.

"How long have you been following me?" John asked him.

"Since the start." he told him.

Really? I thought he didn't want to help his brother. He's so confusing.

"You don't think I'd give up on a case like this just to spite my brother, do you?" Sherlock asked.

"Could of fool me." I muttered as I glanced around.

"Come on. We've got a bit of burglary to do." Sherlock said ignoring my little mutter.

We walked a bit, until we came to a street.

"Missile defense plans haven't left the country. Otherwise, Mycroft's people would have heard about it. Despite what people think, we do still have a Secret Service." Sherlock told us.

"Yeah, I know. I've met them." John told us.

"Which means whoever stole the memory stick can't sell it or doesn't know what to do with it." Sherlock said, "My money's on the latter. We're here."

"What?" John asked confused.

"Come on, Johnny boy." I said as I passed him.

"Sherlock!" John whispered to him, "What if there's someone in?"

"There isn't." Sherlock told him and opened the door.

"Should I wait outside? You know keep watch?" I asked getting a bit nervous.

"Come on, Maria." Sherlock said grabbing my hand and pulling me inside.

"Jesus!" John whispered as Sherlock let go of my hand, "Where are we?"

"Yeah, where are we?" I asked him wondering about that also.

"Oh sorry, did I say Joe Harrison's flat." Sherlock said.

"Joe?" John asked sound confused.

"The brother of West's fiancee." Sherlock said looking out of the window, "He stole the memory stick, killed his prospective brother-in-law."

I stood by the doorway as John and Sherlock looked at the windowsill.

"Then why did he do it?" John asked.

I froze when I heard the front door opened.

"Let's ask him." Sherlock said as I quickly moved from the door way as they slowly walked to the door.

"Don't, don't!" John said as he pulled out his gun.

I stood behind Sherlock so I wouldn't get caught in the fighting if there happened to be one breaking out. I stepped away when John brought Joe into the room, knowing that it was safe now.

"We know about West, Joe." Sherlock told him as he sat on the couch.

"It wasn't meant to... God! What's Lucy going to say? Gee!" Joe said.

"How come you killed him?" I asked him.

"It was an accident. I swear it was." Joe told him.

"But stealing the plans for the missile defense program wasn't an accident, was it?" Sherlock asked him.

"I started dealing drugs. I mean, the bike thing's a great cover, right?" Joe said, "I don't know, I don't know how it started. I just got out of my depth. I owed people thousands, serious people. Then at Westie's engagement do, he starts talking about his job. Usually he's so careful, but that night after a few pints he really opened up. He told me about these missile plans, beyond top secret. He showed me the memory stick, he waved it in front of me. You hear about these things getting lost, ending up on rubbish tips and whatnot, but there it was and thought well, I thought it could be worth a fortune. It was pretty easy to get the thing off him, he was so plastered. Next time I saw him, I could tell by the look on his face that he knew."

"What happened?" John asked him.

"We got in a little fight. I pushed him down the stair, and he hit his head on the ground. I was going to call an ambulance, but it was too late. I just didn't have a clue what to do so I dragged him in here. I just sat in the dark, thinking." he told us.

"When a neat little idea popped into your head." Sherlock said, "You dragged him onto the train. Carrying Andrew West way away from here... His body would have gone on for ages if the train hadn't hit a stretch of track with curves."

"And points." John said.

"Exactly." Sherlock said as he walked across Joe.

"You still have it, then, the memory stick?" John asked him and he nodded his head.

"Fetch it for me, if you wouldn't mind." Sherlock told him.

Joe got up and went to get the memory stick, while Sherlock cam closer to us.

"Distraction over, the game continues." Sherlock whispered.

"Maybe that's over, too." John said.

"I highly doubt it. The man sounds like a psychopath." I whispered.

"We've heard nothing from the bomber." John continued.

"Five pips, remembered, John." Sherlock whispered, "It's a countdown."

"We've only had four, one more to go." I said as Joe walked back into the room with the memory stick.

"Here it is." Joe said and gave it to Sherlock.

"Thank you. We shall be going." Sherlock said and we left Joe's house.

When we got to the flat, I ran up to my room. I sat on my bed and got my phone out. I let out a breath as I looked down at the un-read text.

Hey, I'm in London for a bit. Want to get some coffee and catch up?

,JM

I bit my bottom lip as I typed a reply.

Sure, where at?

,MW

As soon as I sent the text I got a reply.

There's a small restaurant close to 22 Northumberland Street. I'll be outside waiting.

,JM

I shall be there in ten minutes. See you then.

,MW

I fell backwards on my bed and grabbed my pillow. I held it over my face and screamed. I couldn't believe I was going to meet him! Oh it's been a while since I last saw him, and it wasn't pretty. Well I wasn't.

The sound of feet running up the stairs made me sat up quickly. When the door was opened, I threw my pillow at Sherlock, which he dodged easily making the pillow hit John.

"I told you to quit barging into my room." I told him.

"We heard a muffled scream. Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yes, I screamed into my pillow." I told him with my cheeks turning pink.

"Why did you scream into your pillow?" Sherlock asked me.

"Because I can." I told him and stood up, "If you would please get out of my room, I have to change and leave."

"Where are you going?" Sherlock asked me as John left.

"Get some dinner at Angelo's." I told him.

"I'll go with you then. I'm a bit hungry." Sherlock said.

"I thought you don't eat when you on a case. Bad for you digestion. Anyway, I'm meeting an old friend there." I told him.

"Old friend?" he asked.

"Yes, they're in London for a while, and we're going to catch up." I told him, "Now will you leave?"

Sherlock didn't say anything as he walked out of my shutting the door behind him. I walked over to my door and locked it, before turning to my closet. What was I going to wear?


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

After finally getting an outfit, which was a simple shirt and jeans, I left the flat. I didn't get a taxi, it was just a little ways down the street. When the restaurant came into sight, I saw him standing there. I felt my cheeks heat up, when he noticed me.

I took a deep breath and exhaled as I walked across the street to get to the restaurant.

"Maria! It's great to see you again!" James said with his thick Irish accent as he hugged me tightly.

"James, I've missed you." I told him as I hugged him back, "What are you doing here?"

"Eh, my Aunt's getting married again." James told me.

"Ellen? Or Joanna?" I asked him.

"Ellen. She can't keep a man longer than I could keep a gold fish, and you know how I am with those." James said and I laughed a bit as we let go of each other.

"Yeah, your longest is what five hours?" I asked him.

"No, it was a day and half. It would've been longer if your cat hadn't ate him." James told me.

"Oh blame Mr. Tux for that. It was already dead when he ate it." I told him.

"Okay, he was dead. You win." he said, "So are you hungry?"

"Yeah, starving. Been running all over London today." I told him as we walked inside.

"Really? Why?" he asked me.

"Chasing after my boss and stuff." I told him.

"Your boss is he treating you well? He's doesn't tries to do anything to you, does he?" James asked in a whisper so others wouldn't over hear us.

"No, Sherlock is a wonderful boss. He might be crazy, but he's great." I told him as Angelo came over to us.

"Ah! You're Sherlock's girlfriend aren't you?" Angelo asked.

"No, no, no, I'm his assistant." I told him, "Nothing like that."

"Ah, my apology. Well since you're friend of Sherlock, you and your date eat for free." Angelo said.

"Thank you, Angelo." I told him as a waiter escorted us over to the seat by the big window.

"You didn't correct him when he said date." James said with a small hopeful smile.

"James," I said frowning, "I know I told you I needed some time. I still do. It's been six months I know, but I'm still not ready."

"When will you then? I've been waiting and hoping you would come back. We could be together again." he said and placed his hands over mine.

I let out a sigh and looked down at our hands.

"I know, but I just need some more time, James. I still have those dreams of being in that forest." I told him as tears came to my eyes, "Almost every night I see those red eyes and I hear her screams."

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know." he said frowning as he removed his hand.

I wiped a tear away.

"It's fine, you didn't know." I told him as our waiter came to get our orders.

Like last time I order the chicken Alfredo.

"So, how is home?" I asked James.

"Good, it's not the same with you gone." James told me.

"I miss it there, but I like London. It's a wonderful city. Exciting and beautiful." I told him.

"Mm, I don't think I'd like staying in London. It's to big and crowded, unlike home." James said.

"Well you do hate changes." I told him.

"A little." he said and I smiled.

It was good to have James around. I almost forgot what it felt like to be around him.

"I see you let your hair grow out a bit." I told him,"It's more curly too."

(Imagine Aidan Turner.)

"Well you always did like men with curly hair, I figured why not let grow out a bit." he said.

"You didn't grow it out just for me did you?" I asked him frowning a bit.

"Nah, I just been to lazy to get it cut and I'm kind of use to it now." he said.

"Mm, thank you." I told the waiter who had placed the plate of food that I had ordered in front of me.

I grabbed my fork as the waiter placed James food in front of him.

"Thanks." James told the waiter, before he left.

"They have the best food here." I told him.

"Smells like it." James said with a smile on his face.

We ate in silence and when we were done, we left the restaurant.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" James asked me and I looked down at my phone to see the time.

It was getting late, and I had no clue if Sherlock had found anything out about the bomber and the five pips. For all I know Sherlock and John could be dead in flat! Hopefully they weren't. I wouldn't know what I would do if I lost Sherlock. I mean them! Yeah, John and Sherlock, wouldn't know what I would do without them.

"It's getting late," I told him frowning, "I should get back to the flat. Sherlock might burn it down."

"You live with your boss!?" James asked clearly surprised by it.

"Yeah, he's a detective and I'm his assistant. We also have a doctor living with us, who is Sherlock's partner, I guess you could say." I told him.

"Oh, he's gay." James said and I giggled a bit shaking my head.

"No, he's ... I don't really know what he is, but John just keeps him in line, and I keep them both in line, while Mrs. Hudson keeps all three of us in line." I told him.

"Mrs. Hudson?" he asked me confused.

"Landlady." I told him, "Sorry, I'm rambling."

"It's fine, I miss your ramblings." he told me and grabbed my hand gently.

I pulled it away from him slowly and apologized to him.

"I better get going. We should meet again before you go back home." I told him and he nodded his head.

"Yeah, that would be great. How about tomorrow? 2:00 at the art museum? I heard they have some good stuff there." he said and I bit my bottom lip.

I did not want to go back there anytime soon. What with that assassin still on the loose and that mean woman working there. Though she's probably fired now, due to that painting being a fake.

"I really don't feel like going to a museum." I told him, "But we could go to a park or something."

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow then." he said and kissed me on the cheek before walking away.

I let out a sigh shaking my head. I liked James and everything, but it didn't feel right. My heart was trying to tell me something, but I don't have a clue as to what it could be.

I let out a sigh and turned around bumping into a man. I let out a gasp and began to apologize to him quickly.

"It's all right. I should have watched where I was going." the man told me and I looked up at him.

He wasn't more than a few inches taller than me and he seemed to be familiar. I thought back to where I had seen him before and then it came to me. It was Jim! That one guy that Molly was dating.

"You're Jim, right?" I asked him and he nodded his head looking a bit confused.

"Yes, I am. Have I me... You're Maria! Molly's friend from the hospital!" he said a bit excited as he noticed who I was.

"Yeah, how is Molly doing? It's been a while since I last saw her." I told him.

"She's doing fine. So what are you doing out here all alone this late at night?" he asked me.

"Getting some dinner. I should be getting home." I told him.

"I could give you a ride." he offered.

"That's very kind of you, but it's not a far walk from here." I told him and let out a sigh with a annoyed look on his face.

"I tried to be kind, but you leave me no choice." he said with a annoyed tone, " Show him to her."

I looked at him confused. What was he going on about? And what was with the whole mood changing thing. A car pulled up and the window rolled down revealing John with a gun to his head while he was wearing a vest strapped with explosive. I gulped fearing both of our lives.

"Y-You're the bomber!" I said and he rolled his eyes.

"Of course I am, now get into the car, or your friend will be dead." he said and I glared at him as I got into the vehicle seeing no other choice, but to listen to him.

"You okay John?" I asked him.

"Be quiet." Jim told me.

I glared at him and then turned my attention to the window. I watched as the buildings went by us. When the car stopped Jim got out then John, and me.

"You do as I say or the bombs will go off and I'll kill your friends." he told John who was now wearing a think coat over the vest.

John nodded his head as he was escorted into the building we were standing in front of. I looked up at the building to see that it was some sort of pool. I felt a tight grip on my upper arm and was soon being dragged into the place by Jim.

"Be quiet, do as I say and no one will die." Jim told me as we stood behind a set of door.

I nodded my head and looked down at the ground in anger. A few minutes later, I heard Sherlock and soon Jim was talking into his phone. I bit my bottom lip in anger at his words.

"Who are you?" Sherlock asked and Jim walked through the door, after telling me to stay where I was as a red dot appeared above my heart.

A few minutes went by as I stood there worrying about John and Sherlock, when I heard Jim shout something I looked up shocked by the echos from behind the door. A few seconds after the shout the red dot went away. I looked around confused and frozen. Could I go now?

I waited there for a moment, before running through the door. I froze when I saw both John and Sherlock. I felt tears come to my eyes as saw that they were safe. I ran to Sherlock and wrapped my arms around tightly glad that he was safe.

"It's alright, Maria. You're safe." Sherlock told me, "No need to cry."

Cry? That's when I noticed I was crying.

"I was so worried you..." I told him and then added, "And John."

I let go of Sherlock and took a step back wiping the tears away.

"I'll get a cab." John said and left the pool.

I looked up at Sherlock to see that he had a concerned look on his face.

"I was worried about you too." he said and looked away from me.

I was shocked by his words. He was worried about me? I blushed a bit and looked down at my feet.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Sherlock asked me and shook my head looking up at him.

"No, he threatened me, but nothing other than that happened." I told him.

"Hm, we should get going. John has gotten a cab most likely." he said and I nodded my head as Sherlock put his hand over mine as we made our way out of the pool with him lightly dragging me behind him.

In the cab John and Sherlock told me what had went on with them and Jim. I hadn't a clue what was going on, while I was behind the door.

"And that's when you came out." Sherlock told me and I nodded my head blushing a bit as I noticed his eyes were pretty blue.

Oh God! I can't believe I just thought that!

* * *

I bet no one suspected JM to be somebody else. Anyway, it seems that some feelings between two certain people are beginning to form! Plus what will Maria do with James? Only time will tell...


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

"You have a suit case." Sherlock said as I walked into the living room, "Why do you have a suit case?"

I set my two suit cases down as I grabbed my coat.

"I'm going on vacation." I told him, "I told you the other day when you were playing with a hand in the kitchen. Weren't you listening?"

A few days had passed since the incident at the pool, and life went back to being normal. Well Sherlock normal. Just doing case after case. But no life threatening things. I was getting tired of it and in need of a small break though. I don't see how John and Sherlock could keep doing this.

James had mentioned that I should go back home with him for a week or so when he leaves. I missed my father and he has been wanting me to come visit. I'll only be gone for a week nothing more. What trouble could Sherlock and John get into while I'm gone?

"Not really." he said, "How long are you going to be in Dartmoor?"

"A week at the most. I can't leave you and John by yourself for too long. You'll destroy the flat." I told him, "Please don't microwave a head while I'm gone. I don't want to come back to a mess like that."

"I won't." he said as I picked up my suit cases, "Need help?"

"No, I can manage." I told him as I walked towards the closed door.

"I'll get that." Sherlock said opened the door.

"Thank you." I told him as I walked down the stairs.

Sherlock followed after me, and opened the front door.

"Please don't burn the flat down, while I'm away." I told Sherlock as we walked over to the road.

"I won't." he told me and frowned all of a sudden.

I turned around to see James getting out of cab. He had a big smile on his face as he took off a pair of sun glasses he wore.

"You ready, Maria?" he asked me.

"Who is that?" Sherlock asked eying James up and down.

"He's a family friend. James McCormick." I whispered to him, "And be nice to him."

"You must be Sherlock. Maria told me a lot about you." James said and held out his hand.

"Yes, Maria told me nothing about you." Sherlock said and shook James hand.

"Right," James said, "Is it true you can tell anything about persons life?"

"James, I don't think, Sherlock has time to do that at the moment." I told him quickly knowing Sherlock would say something making James angry, "Right Sherlock?"

"No, I have a lot of time." he said and I shot him a glare.

Bastard.

"So what can you tell about me?" James asked.

"You're a Irish man. You work as a grounds keeper of some sort. You don't make much, especially enough to be wearing those type of sunglasses. Arnette, is it?" Sherlock began and I could see James was getting a bit angry at him, "You borrowed them from someone. Along with your outfit. It seemed you are trying to impress someone. Someone you have feelings for, but she either don't return them or is confused. Who is this woman? She must be something to make you do this, because it hurts your pride to ask for help. Now, I've touched a sensitive spot."

"Sherlock, enough." I told him grabbing his arm.

Sherlock stopped talking and looked at me. I blushed a bit as he looked at me.

"Sherlock, why don't you go back to the flat. James and I need to be leaving." I told him.

"But I'm not finish. I'm about to find out who this woman is." Sherlock told me and I bit my bottom lip.

"It's me, Sherlock." I told him and he seemed to be surprised by the fact, "I am the woman. James was my ex, but I broke up with him, because I couldn't handle a relationship at the time, due to my mother's death."

"Oh," he said with his eye brows furrowed a bit.

"Now please leave, Sherlock. I will see you when I return next Sunday." I told him and picked up my suit cases that I had sat down on the ground.

"Be careful." Sherlock said and walked into the flat.

I let out a sigh and turned to James.

"I'm really sorry about him. He likes showing off and an idiot." I told James, "Shall we be going?"

"Yeah," he said, "Just so you know I didn't borrow these clothes."

"Of course" I said and got into the cab knowing he had borrowed them.

Sherlock was never wrong.

"Your boss seems to be a dick." James said as he drove a rented car.

"I don't think he is. He just likes to show off." I told him.

"I don't see how you can work with a man like that. He's not forcing you to do anything you don't want to do is he?" James asked and I shook my head.

"God no, Sherlock would never do something like that. He may be a sociopath, but not someone like that. He's a great guy, once you get to know him." I told him, "I just hope he doesn't get into trouble while I'm gone."

"What kind of trouble does he get into?" he asked.

"Nothing really." I told him not wanting him to know about the dangerous stuff we get into, like the pool.

"Mm." James said and the rest of the ride was in silence mostly after that.

Once getting to Dartmoor, I couldn't believe I was back home. I kept looking out the window expecting to see my Mum walking around or riding her bicycle. Tears came to my eyes when I kept remembering she was dead.

"Dad!" I shouted as I hugged him tightly once I made it home.

"Pumpkin! You've gain weight that's good." Dad said and I let out a hmph.

If it wasn't for Sherlock making John eat all the time when we're out, I wouldn't have gain it. Damn him.

"You seem to have lost some." I said frowning a bit.

Before I left, he had a big round belly, but now it was gone. Hasn't he been eating?

"Yeah, I've been working in the garden mostly, and fishing. It's hard not having you and your Mum around." he said and I looked down at my feet feeling guilty, "I missed you. It's good to have you back here."

"Yeah, but it's only for a week. I'm leaving Sunday, remember." I told him and he nodded his head.

"Well, then we best be making the most of it." Dad said and I nodded my head, "So do you have a boyfriend yet? I want some grandchildren before I die."

I blushed and bit my bottom lip.

"N-No, I'm still single Dad." I told him.

"Can't find a good boy? James still likes you, you should get back together." Dad said and I shook my head.

"Dad, I'm not ready yet." I told him, "Anyway I have Sherlock to... and John to watch over."

"You like one of them don't you? Sherlock?" Dad asked with a knowing look.

"No, I don't." I told him, "Anyway, I'm going to take a nap. It was a long drive."

"Right, well I haven't touched your room, it should be the same as you left it." Dad said, "I'll be in the garden, might go down to the pub later. Be careful if you go out, Maria. I love you."

"Love you too, Dad. Be careful." I told him and walked off to my room with my suit cases.

I sat on my bed and looked down at my cell phone debating on calling Sherlock or John to see how everything was going on in London, but I decided not to and went to sleep.

Two days went by since I came to Dartmoor. It was nice being back home, but I was starting to miss being in London, Uncle Greg, John, Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson.

The last four days, I have been staying inside. I couldn't go out, I didn't feel safe, knowing that beast was out there somewhere waiting for a new victim. I hadn't heard much from John or Sherlock. Uncle Greg has been texting me about the recent small stranger cases that they have been getting.

James came by every day to help fix up the house. According to him and Dad the roof was starting to fall in. It seemed fine, and I believe they were plotting to have me get back with James. He was a sweet guy and everything, and I would love to be with him, but it just didn't feel right. Every time I thought of us together, I would always think of Sherlock. How he had comforted me that night at the pool, how he has always been there to keep me safe when I was in danger on a case. How he always caught me when I fell.

Oh God! Don't tell me I fancy him! No! Impossible, it couldn't be happening! I must be sick! Yes, I have a cold or something! Or I could be going insane, because I've been sitting in this house for the last four days. I couldn't wait till Sunday, three more days to go.

And those three days had gone by quickly. I left Dartmoor after hugging Dad goodbye and visiting my Mum's grave leaving some fresh lilies on her grave. They were her favorite types of flowers.

"This week has gone by quickly." James commented and I nodded my head, but to me it had felt like forever.

"Yes, I'm going to miss being here." I told him.

"I'll miss seeing you around there. It was nice having you around, you should come back soon." James said.

"Maybe." I told him and looked out the window.

"Is everything okay?" he asked me and I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. That's all." I told him.

"Rough night?" he asked me and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare." I told him.

It had been a while since I had that horrible nightmare. I thought that I was getting better, but coming back here and caused it to return. Maybe it was because I kept hearing that horrible howl at night.

"The same one?" he asked me and I nodded my head.

"I quit having it, a few months ago, but now it has returned." I told him.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe it'll be gone soon." he said and I nodded my head closing my eyes falling asleep.

Red eyes watched me as I ran through the foggy forest. I could hear the beast heavy breathing along with my beating heart. Then I heard the scream of my mother and then it's howl. I opened my eyes wide and sat up rubbing my face.

I looked around to see that we were in London now, passing Angelo's. We were close to the flat. A smile came to my face as I couldn't help, but thought of seeing Sherlock and John again.

"Well we're here." James said as I got out of the car.

"Thank you for everything, James." I told him as I grabbed my suitcases, "See you later."

I ran to the flat and quickly made my way up the staircase. I opened the door and froze seeing Sherlock in nothing, but a sheet, a man in a suit and Mrs. Hudson.

"You're coming with us." the man told Sherlock.

"What's going on?" I asked walking into the room worried that Sherlock had gotten himself in trouble once again.

"Ah, Maria it's good to see you're back from your vacation. How was it?" Mrs. Hudson asked as I walked over to her.

"It was great, but what is going on? Did you get into trouble while I was gone, Sherlock? I told you not too!" I told him angrily.

"Do not worry, Miss." the man told me and I glared at him.

"And who are you to tell me what to do?" I asked him feeling irritated from lack of sleep and it was about my time of the month.

I was about to shout at the man once more when another appeared with Sherlock clothes. He placed them on the table in front of Sherlock.

"Please, Mr. Holmes." the man said, "Where you're going, you'll want to be dressed."

Sherlock looked at the man for a second before smirking.

"I know exactly where I'm going." Sherlock told him and stood up, "Let's go, Maria."

"What?" I asked confused as he walked off.

I followed after him with the two men following behind. One of them was carrying Sherlock's clothes.

"Our services are needed." he said walking out of the flat.

"Why are you wearing a sheet?" I asked him as the two men made us get into a car.

"I didn't feel like wearing clothes." he said as the men drove.

"I'm gone for a week and you become a nudist." I sighed shaking my head, "Where's John?"

"He's on a case, but I'm sure we'll be running into him." Sherlock told me and I nodded my head, "Why did you lie to Mrs. Hudson?"

"Hm?" I asked confused.

"You told her your vacation was great, but it wasn't." he said looking at me, "You're tired, irritated, and glad to be back here."

I let out a sigh. Damn him and his observing abilities.

"It's nothing to worry about, Sherlock." I told him.

"Maria, what ever it is, you can tell me." he told me and I blushed.

"It's just the nightmare has return." I told him looking down at my feet.

He was about to say something when the car stopped. I looked out the window to see the Buckingham palace. Why in the hell were we there?

We got out of the car and were taken inside. The men showed us to a room, and we sat down on a couch, while one of the men placed Sherlock's clothes on a table. I couldn't believe I was in Buckingham palace with a almost naked Sherlock sitting next to me. It was weird.

A few minutes passed, until John showed up. He seemed to be surprised to see Sherlock sitting on the couch in nothing, but a bed sheet.

"You wearing any pants?" John asked Sherlock after sitting on the couch.

"No." Sherlock said and I bit the inside of my cheek at the funniest of this situation.

"Okay." John said and all three of us began to laugh.

"I can't believe we're in Buckingham Palace." I said after calming my laughing fit.

"I am seriously fighting an impulse to steal an ashtray." John said and shook his head as Sherlock laughed a bit more, "What are we doing here, Sherlock Holmes? Seriously, what."

"I don't know." Sherlock told him.

"Is it to see the Queen?" John asked him as I looked around the room to look at the beauty of it all so one day I could tell my children I was in Buckingham Palace.

Oh, I've been around my Dad too long. While I was in Dartmoor, he mentioned grandchildren almost everyday. It began to drive me nuts.

"Oh, apparently, yes." Sherlock said as Mycroft walked into the room, while to two began to laugh again.

I bit my bottom lip as Mycroft stood there watching them slightly annoyed.

"Just once can you two behave like grown ups? I see Maria is." Mycroft said.

"We solve crimes, I blog about it, and he forgets his pants." John said and I laughed at that, "So I wouldn't hold out too much hope."

"I was in the middle of a case, Mycroft." Sherlock told him.

"What, the hiker and the backfire? I glanced at the police report. A bit obviously, surely." Mycroft said.

"Transparent." Sherlock said.

"Time to move on, then." Mycroft said picking Sherlock clothes up, "We are in Buckingham Palace. The very heart of the British Nation. Sherlock Holmes, put your trousers on."

"What for?" Sherlock asked him.

"Your client." Mycroft told him.

"And my client is?" he asked standing up.

"Illustrious in the extreme." A man said appearing out of no where causing me to jump, "And remaining, I have to inform you, entirely anonymous. Mycroft."

John and I stood up as the man walked over to us.

"Eric. May I just apologize for the state of my little brother." Mycroft told the man as he walked over to him.

"Full-time occupation, I imagine." Eric said looking at Sherlock, "And this must be Dr. John Watson, formerly of the fifth Northumberland Fusiliers."

"Hello. Yes." John said shaking his his hand.

"My employer is a tremendous fan of your blog." he told John.

"Your employer?" John said.

"Particularly enjoyed the one about the Aluminum Crutch." Eric told him and John gave Sherlock a look.

"And you must be the lovely Maria Walken. I've heard you keep these two in line." Eric said and I nodded my head.

"Yes, I am." I told him with a polite smile on my face.

"And Mr. Holmes, the younger. You look taller in your photographs." Eric said turning his attention to Sherlock.

"Took the precaution of a good coat and short friends." Sherlock said and I glared at him a bit.

How dare he call me short!

"Mycroft, I don't do anonymous clients. I'm used to mystery at one end of my cases. Both ends is too much work. Good Morning." Sherlock told him before walking off.

My eyes widen when I saw Mycroft stepping on the end of Sherlock's bedsheets making it fall off. I blushed when he caught it, just barely above his behind. I bit my bottom lip as I stared at him.

"This is a matter of national importance. Grow up." Mycroft tole him.

"Get off my sheet." Sherlock told him.

"Or what?" Mycroft asked him.

"Or I'll just walk away." Sherlock told him and my blush turned redder at the thought of a actually naked Sherlock walking off.

Oh God, I need sleep and I think I'm going to faint!

"I'll let you." Mycroft told him.

"Boys, please. Not here." John said.

"Who is my client?" Sherlock asked.

"Take a look at where you're standing, and make a deduction. You are to be engaged by the highest in the land. Now for God's sake, put your clothes on. Maria might faint from the way she's looking." Mycroft said and if my cheeks couldn't get any redder they would have.

Sherlock turned around I sat down looking at my feet as he left to change into his clothes. John sat next to me as Mycroft and Eric sat across from us. I couldn't believe that happened. Oh my God that was so embarrassing!

When Sherlock returned I kept my eyes glue to the floor as he sat next to me.

"I'll be Mother." Mycroft said as he poured some tea.

"And there is a whole childhood in a nutshell." Sherlock said.

"My employer has a problem." Eric said.

"A matter has come to light. Of an extremely delicate and potential criminal nature. And in this hour of need, dear brother, your name has arisen." Mycroft said.

"Why? You have a police force of sorts. Even a marginally secret service. Why come to me?" Sherlock said.

"People do come to you for help, don't they, Mr. Holmes?" Eric asked him.

"Not to date, anyone with the Navy." Sherlock said.

"This is a matter of the highest security, therefore of trust." Mycroft said.

"You don't trust your own secret service?" John asked him.

"Naturally not. They all spy on people for money." Mycroft told him.

"I do think we have a time table." Eric said and looked at Mycroft.

"Yes, of course." Mycroft said and pulled out a suitcase, "What do you know about this woman?"

Sherlock took a photo from Mycroft and I looked at it. I've never seen her before, so I knew nothing. No clue about Sherlock or John though.

"Nothing whatsoever." Sherlock answered.

"Then you should be paying more attention. She's been at the center of two political scandals in the last year, and recently ended the marriage of a prominent novelist by having an affair with both participants separately." Mycroft told us and I cringed at that.

What kind of woman would do such a thing like that? Having an affair with both people? It was just wrong to ruin people lives like that!

"You know I don't concern myself with trivia." Sherlock said as he looked at the photo, "Who is she?"

"Irene Adler." Mycroft said, "Professionally known as the woman. Professionally there are many names for what she does. She prefers dominatrix."

"Dominatrix." Sherlock said as his eyes were glue to the photo.

"Don't be alarmed. It has to do with sex." Mycroft said and I blushed again at remembering what happened a few moments ago.

Damn those bedsheets and Sherlock's laziness!

"Sex doesn't alarm me." Sherlock said quickly.

"How would you know?" Mycroft asked him, "She provides, shall we say, recreational scolding for those who enjoy that sort of thing, and are prepared to pay for it. These are all from her website."

Sherlock took the photos from Mycroft and began to look at them.

"And I assumed this Adler woman has some compromising photographs?" Sherlock asked.

"Very quick, Mr. Holmes." Eric said.

"Hardly a difficult deduction. Photographs of whom?" Sherlock asked.

"A person of significance to my employer." Eric said, "We prefer not to say any more at this time."

"You can't tell us anything?" John asked.

"I can tell you it's a young person. A young female person." Mycroft said.

"How many photographs?" Sherlock asked.

"A considerable number, apparently." Mycroft said.

They should of locked the young woman up, so she wouldn't have gone off and got her pictures taken of doing God knows what.

"Do Miss Adler and this young female person appear in the photographs together?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes, they do." Mycroft said.

"Then I assume in a number of compromising scenarios?" Sherlock asked.

"An imaginative range, we are assured." Mycroft said.

"John, you might want to put that cup back in its saucer now." Sherlock said and John placed the cup down.

"Can you help us, Mr. Holmes?" Eric asked him.

"How?" Sherlock asked.

"Will you take the case?" Eric asked.

"What case?" Sherlock asked, "Pay here now, and in full. As Miss Adler remarks in her masthead, know when you are beaten."

"She doesn't want anything. She got in touch. She informed us that the photographs existed. She indicated that she had no intention to use them to extort either money or favor." Mycroft told him.

"Oh, a power play." Sherlock said, "A power play with the most powerful family in Britain. Now that is a Dominatrix. Oh, this is getting rather fun, isn't it?"

"Sherlock." John said.

"Huh. Where is she?" Sherlock asked grabbing his coat.

"In London, currently. She's staying..." Mycroft began.

"Text me the details. I'll be in touch by the end of the day." Sherlock said standing up.

I stood up along with John and the others as Sherlock walked off.

"Do you really think you'll have news by then?" Eric asked him.

"No, I think I'll have the photographs." Sherlock said.

"One can only hope you're as good as you seem to think." Eric told him.

"I'll need some equipment, of course." Sherlock told them.

"Anything you require. I'll have it sent over." Mycroft said.

"Can I have a box of matches?" Sherlock asked him.

"I'm sorry?" Eric asked him.

"Or your cigarette lighter. Either will do." Sherlock said.

"I don't smoke." Eric told him.

"No, I know you don't." Sherlock told him, "But your employer does."

"We have kept a lot of people successfully in the dark about this little fact, Mr. Holmes." Eric told him.

"I'm not the commonwealth." Sherlock told him.

"And that's as modest as he gets." John said and I nodded my head, "Pleasure to meet you."

I followed after John and Sherlock.

"Laters." Sherlock said and I rolled my eyes at that as we left the palace.


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

Leaving the Palace, we took a cab back to the flat. Once at the flat I took my suit cases up to my room, while Sherlock went to his room to according to him 'Need the right armor for the battle.' And that's my boss people!

"Are you ready yet?" I asked Sherlock as I walked into the living room after un-packing my things.

"Yes I am." he said as he walked out of his room wearing what he usually wore.

I thought he was getting 'armor' for the up coming 'battle'? Oh well he and his madness.

We left the flat and got into a cab. I sat between John and Sherlock looking down at my phone as I received a text.

Miss you.

JM

I let out a sigh and put away my phone.

"We just ring her doorbell?" John asked as I listened in on their conversation.

"Exactly." Sherlock said, "Just here, please."

We were there already? I looked out the window and looked around.

"You didn't even change your clothes." John said.

"Yeah, what happened to the armor you kept going on about?" I asked him as the cab stopped.

"I was trying to add a splash of color." He said and got out of the cab.

I got out right behind him and followed him down an alley. What were we doing here? I thought we were going to see Ms. Adler. I stopped my thoughts when I saw Sherlock pull his scarf off and handed it to me.

"We're here?" John asked him as Sherlock stood in front of him.

"Uh, two streets away, but this will do." Sherlock said and I looked at him confused.

If she was two streets away, then why were we here?

"Go on." Sherlock said and I got even more confused, "Punch me in the face."

"Punch you?" John asked.

"Yes, punch me in the face." Sherlock said, "Didn't you hear me?"

"I always hear punch me in the face when you're speaking, but it's usually sometimes." John said.

"Can I punch you?" I pipped in, but it seemed that it fell on deaf ears when Sherlock punched John.

I let out a gasp when John punched Sherlock.

"Thank you, that was, that was..." Sherlock began, but stopped when John tackled Sherlock.

"Boys! Stop it!" I shouted at them, "John, it's my turn to punch Sherlock!"

"I think we've done enough, John." Sherlock told him trying to get loose of his choke hold.

"If you don't remember, I was a soldier." John said, "I killed people."

"John don't kill Sherlock!" I said as I watched the two, "This is ridiculous. Just let him go so I can punch him and we can finish this case!"

"You are a doctor." Sherlock said as they ignored me.

I felt so much loved. I let out a sigh and placed Sherlock's scarf on so I wouldn't loose it as the two went on. They acted like little brothers always getting into trouble.

"I have bad days." John said and Sherlock pushed him off.

"John, stop." Sherlock said as he breathed heavily.

I took that as my chance to punch him in the face.

"There." I said and dusting off my hand as John began to laugh.

"Was that necessary?" Sherlock asked as he stood up touching his cheek.

"No, but it felt good and it wasn't fair for just John to punch you." I told him smirking.

"Right, well how do I look?" he asked us.

I looked at his face and couldn't help, but blush. Damn those cheek bones of his.

"A mess. Why did you want me to punch you?" John asked.

"It's all in the act John. It has to be real." Sherlock said, "How are your acting skills, Maria?"

I shook my head mentally.

"Not good, but I can do. Why?" I asked him.

"Excellent. We should get going." Sherlock said and I frowned.

I hated when he does stuff like that.

We reached the home of Ms. Adler. That's when Sherlock began his own act. It was weird seeing him like that and I didn't like it one bit. But he was good at it, I had to give him that.

"Thank you," Sherlock said as the woman let us in, "Oh,"

"W-We saw it all happen." John said as we followed Sherlock into the home, "It's okay, I'm a doctor."

"And I'm his sister." I said pointing to John.

"Now have you got a first aid kit?" John asked.

"In the kitchen." the woman told him, "Please."

"Oh, thank you." John said, "Maria stay here with the man."

I nodded my head.

"Yes, John." I said nodding my head as he walked into the kitchen, and the woman showed Sherlock and I to a room.

I sat next to Sherlock playing with his scarf bored. What was taking John so long? And where was this Adler woman?

"I was sorry to hear that you've been hurt." A voice of a woman said and I looked up at the door as the woman, who must be Ms. Adler could be heard walking towards it, "I don't think Kate caught your name?"

My eyes went wide when I saw her naked. I looked away, towards Sherlock.

"I'm so sorry," Sherlock began, but stopped seeing the woman.

I couldn't believe she would come out here naked like that! Oh, God, I think I've gone blind! Nope, my eyes were just closed. I stared up at Sherlock who was staring at her not blinking. I felt something in the pit of my stomach as he stared at her.

"Oh, it's always hard to remember an alias when you've had a fright, isn't it?" she asked walking into the room.

I let out an eep, when she sat on Sherlock's lap taking his white collar from his shirt.

"We're both defrocked, Mr. Sherlock Holmes." she said.

"Miss Adler, I presume?" Sherlock said looking up at her.

"Oh, look at those cheekbones." Irene said, "I could cut myself slapping that face. Would you like me to try? It seems you little pet here has."

Pet? I wasn't his pet! I'm his assistant you no good tramp!

She glanced at me and I looked down at my hand, to see it was bleeding a bit from where I had hit Sherlock. I kept my eyes down at it until I heard John walk into the room. I looked at him to see that he was shocked to find Irene naked on Sherlock's lap.

"I've missed something, haven't I?" John asked and I nodded my head.

"Please, sit down." Irene told John as she got off of Sherlock, "Oh if you'd like some tea, I can call the maid."

"I had some at the palace." Sherlock said.

"I know." Irene said sitting on a chair.

"Plenty." Sherlock said and the two had a staring contest.

"I had, tea, too, from the palace," John said, "If anyone's interested."

"I am," I huffed crossing my arms.

I glanced at Sherlock when he stared at John for a second, than me.

**(An: Here is what Sherlock sees on Maria. I just wanted to do this scene.)**

New shirt, something she bought while in Dartmoor.

Shadows under her eyes. Having trouble sleeping at nights.

Crossed arms, little angry look on her face. Angry or jealous for some reason?

Patted down messy hair. Took a nap while leaving Dartmoor.

Light pink lipstick. New style? Date maybe? Undecided.

**(End)**

"Do you know the big problem with a disguise, Mr. Holmes?" Irene asked him, "How ever hard you try it's always a self-portrait."

"You think I'm a vicar with a bleeding face?" Sherlock said.

"I think you're damaged, delusional." she told him and I let out a sigh listening to the two go on.

"Somebody loves you." Irene said leaning forward catching my attention, "If I had to punch that face, I'd avoid your nose and teeth, too."

She glanced at me, then John.

"Could you put something, on, please?" John asked her.

"Please do." I muttered.

"Uh, anything at all. A napkin." John said.

"Why? Are feeling exposed?" she asked him.

"I don't think John knows where to look." Sherlock told her and stood up.

"No. I think he knows exactly where." Irene said standing up and I looked away from her as she took Sherlock's coat, "I'm not sure about you."

"If I wanted to look at naked women, I'd borrow John's laptop or sneak into the bathroom when Maria is bathing." Sherlock said and I looked at him with wide eyes.

What did he just say?

"You do borrow my laptop." John said as I watched Sherlock walk away.

"I confiscate it." Sherlock told him.

"Oh, never mind." Irene said as she put Sherlock's coat on.

Would he actually sneak in on me while I'm bathing? No, he just said that to make a point. Yeah, Sherlock wasn't like that at all. Well I hope not.

"We've got better things to talk about." Irene said, "Now, tell me. I need to know. How was it done?"

What was she going on about? I wondered as she sat on the couch taking her high heels off.

"What?" Sherlock asked her.

"The hiker with the bashed in head." Irene told him and I was confused by that.

Was it a case? Well Sherlock did mention at the palace that he was on a case. So that must had been what she meant.

"How was he killed?" Irene asked.

"That's not why I'm here." Sherlock told her.

"No, no, no, you're here for the photographs, but that's never going to happen, since we're here just chatting anyway." Irene said and I let out a sigh.

I sat there bored out of my mind listening to them talk.

"Brainy is the new sexy. Right Maria? You like detectives don't you?" Irene asked me and I blushed looking away from her.

"Detective stories are interesting." I said slowly.

"Business, uh, business with the car relative to the hiker at the time of the backfire." Sherlock said catching all of ours attention.

And then they went back to the case. I left the room with John, while Sherlock stayed in the room with Irene.

"Erugh, I don't like that woman." I growled as John and I stood out in the hallway.

"Jealous?" he asked smirking a bit.

"No! Why would I be jealous? She's nothing, but a tramp. Appearing naked and flirting with him! Calling me his pet!" I said angrily.

"I think that's jealousy." John said and I glared at him, "Or not."

John stayed quiet after that and rolled up a magazine. Just like Sherlock had told us to do before coming here. John got out the lighter that Eric had given Sherlock, and set the rolled up magazine on fire. Soon the fire alarm came on.

"I'll go check on them." I told John as I heard Sherlock shout out to us telling us to turn it off.

My eyes went wide when I saw men with guns come down the stairs. Shooting the fire alarm in the process.

I raised my hands up standing next to John as a man held a gun at us. Great, I'm back one day and I have a gun to my head.

"Thank you." John said to the men and I rolled my eyes.

"Come on." the man said and we made our way to the room.

"Hands behind your head. On the floor. Keep it still." the man, who was clearly American said with his gun raised.

"Sorry, Sherlock." John said as the men made John and I kneel by the table.

"Yeah," I said as I placed my hands on top of my head.

"Miss Adler, on the floor." the man told the woman.

"Don't you want me on the floor, too?" Sherlock asked him as he stood by the fireplace.

"No, sir. I want you to open the safe." the man told him.

"American." Sherlock said, "Interesting. Why would you care?"

"Sir, the safe." the man told him as Sherlock glanced at Irene, "Now, please."

"I don't know the code." Sherlock told him.

"You've been listening. She said she told you." the man said.

"Well, if you'd been listening, you'll know she didn't." Sherlock said.

"I'm assuming I missed something. From your reputation I'm assuming you didn't, Mr. Holmes." the man said.

"For God's sake, she's the one that know the code. Ask her." John said.

"Yes, sir." the man said, "She also knows the code that automatically calls the police and sets off the burglar alarm. I've learned not to trust her."

"Mr. Holmes doesn't..." Irene began.

"Shut up." the man said angrily to her, "One more word out of you. Just one, and I will decorate that wall with the insides of your head. That, for me, will not be hardship. Mr. Archer, at the count of three shoot Dr. Watson and then Miss Walkens."

"What?" John and I asked looking up at the man.

"I don't know the code." Sherlock told him.

"One." the man said and I cringed seeing the man pressed his gun on John's neck.

Please God! Let Sherlock figure out the code! I don't want John or me to die!

"I don't know the code." Sherlock told him.

"Two."

"She didn't tell me. I don't know it." Sherlock told him shouting out the last part.

"I'm prepared to believe you any second now." he said as my eyes began to get watery.

"Three." he said and I closed my eyes waiting for the gun to go off.

"No, stop." Sherlock shouted and I opened my eyes.

I watched Sherlock turn around to the safe as my heart beated quickly. When I heard the beep come from the safe unlocking it, I let out a sigh.

"Thank you, Mr. Holmes. Open it, please." the man said.

"African Cameos." Sherlock said and I was confused.

Did he say Afri... I couldn't finish my thought as John pushed me down as a gun went off from the safe, shooting one of the men. I watched as the men were taken out.

"Do you mind?" Sherlock asked Irene as I sat up.

"Not at all." Irene said as she knocked out one of the men, while Sherlock grabbed her phone.

"You okay, Maria?" Sherlock asked me and I nodded my head as I stood up.

"He's dead." John said.

"Thank you." Irene said as she pointed her gun at the man that she had knocked out, "You were very observant."

"Observant?" John asked looking at her.

"I'm flattered." Irene said.

"Don't be." Sherlock told her.

"Flattered?" John asked looking at Sherlock.

"They'll be keeping an on the building." Sherlock said leaving the room.

I followed him and John out of the house getting my phone.

"We should phone the police." John said.

"I'll call my Uncle." I said and was about to press his number, when Sherlock shot his gun into the air, "Or not."


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

Sherlock and I soon returned to the room to find Irene still in there, while John went to check the house. I didn't want to be alone in that place and leave Sherlock alone with that woman. There was no telling what she might do to him.

"Well, that's the money to put in the bank." Sherlock said pulling Irene's phone out of his pocket and looked at it.

"Oh, and that's mine." she said holding out her hand.

"I don't think you're getting it back." I told her and she glared at me.

"All the photographs are on here, I presume?" Sherlock asked as he looked down at her phone.

"I have copies, of course." she told him.

"No, you don't." he said and I listened to them speak about the phone, all the while playing with the end of his scarf.

"That camera phone is my life. I'd die before I let you take it. It's my protection." she told Sherlock walking over to him.

"Sherlock." I heard John shout and I turned to the door way.

"It was." Sherlock said and walked out of the room, with me following him.

"Must have come in this way." John said as we walked into the room.

I let out a gasp seeing the woman from earlier on the floor. Was she dead?

"Clearly." Sherlock said.

"It's all right. She's just out cold." John told Irene as she walked into the room.

At least she wasn't dead.

"Well, God knows she's used to that." she said looking at the unconscious woman.

Didn't she care about the woman? Surely they were friends.

"There's a back door. Better check it, Dr. Watson." Irene told him as she walked over to a vanity.

John looked over at Sherlock, who nodded his head.

"Sure." John said before leaving the room leaving the three of us.

"You're very calm." Sherlock said as I stood by the door, "Well, your booby trap did just kill a man."

"He would have killed me." Irene told him as she walked over to him, "It was self-defense in advance."

"Sherlock!" I shouted as she stuck him with something.

"What, what is that? What?" Sherlock said as he spun around trying to get the needle out of his arm.

"What did you do to him!?" I shouted at her as she smacked him.

I ran at the woman and was about to tackle her when she back hand me. I fell to the ground as she turned to Sherlock.

"Give it to me now." she told Sherlock, "Give it to me."

"No." Sherlock slurred.

I got up and was about to hit her when she turned around. She punched in the cheek causing me to fall again.

"Don't you ever give up?" she asked me as she turned back to Sherlock.

"Give it to me." she told him.

"No." Sherlock said dropping to his hands.

"For goodness sake. Drop it." she said and began to whip him with a riding crop, until he did, "Oh, thank you, dear."

"You'll pay for that!" I said getting up.

The woman rolled her eyes before kicking me in the gut with her foot.

"If I were you I'd give up. Either way, I will win." she said smirking, before turning her attention back to Sherlock, "Now tell that sweet little poshie in the picture is safe with me. Not for blackmail. Just for insurance. Besides, I might want to see her again. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. It's been a pleasure. Don't spoil it. This is how I want you to remember me. The woman who beat you. Good night, Mr. Sherlock Holmes."

"Jesus. What are you doing?" John asked walking into the room.

"J-John." I gasped out holding my stomach in pain.

"He'll sleep for a few hours." Irene told him as she walked over to a bathroom, "Make sure he doesn't choke on his own vomit. It makes for a very unattractive course."

"What's the, what have you given him?" John asked as he stood there watching her, "Sherlock?"

"He'll be fine." she said, "I've used it on loads of my friends."

I pushed myself up ignoring the pain in my gut. I crawled over to Sherlock and John.  
"Sherlock, can you hear me?" John asked looking down at Sherlock.

"Sherlock." I said looking at him.

"No. I was wrong about him. He did know where to look." Irene said and John stood up.

I sat down next to Sherlock and looked at his face.

"Please be okay, Sherlock." I said as my eyes began to water ignoring the two talking.

"Shall I tell him?" I heard her say as Sherlock raised up.

"Stay still, Sherlock. You'll hurt yourself." I told him.

"My measurements." Irene said and then fell out the window.

Sherlock raised up again and flopped back down. He did it a couple of more time, before passing out. I picked his head up and placed it into my lap. It was best to keep it placed up.

"Is he going to be okay, John?" I asked him as he bent down checking on Sherlock's pulse.

"I hope so. All we can do is wait." he said and police men came into the room.

Uncle Greg came once John had asked for him.

"Maria. Are you hurt?" Uncle Greg asked me.

"I'm fine, Uncle Greg. I'm worry about Sherlock." I told him and bit my nails as John and another police officer helped carry him out of there.

I let out a sigh seeing Uncle Greg pulling out his phone and recording the whole process.

"He'll be fine." Uncle Greg said as we rode to the flat, while Uncle Greg took a few photos of Sherlock.  
I watched Sherlock for a moment before looking out the window.

"So how was your vacation?" Uncle Greg asked me.

"It was okay. Dad wants me to get back James, but it just doesn't feel right." I told him.

"The bloke with the anger problems?" he asked and I nodded.

James was easily angered. He never got angry with me. He has with Uncle Greg, and almost with Sherlock, if I hadn't stopped him.

"I don't like him." he said.

I stayed quiet after that until we reached the flat. I helped John this time pack Sherlock in. I wished Uncle Greg would help also, but he was to busy recording it.

Time went by since we brought Sherlock back to the flat. Uncle Greg left after a while. Now it was just John and I waiting for Sherlock to wake.

"John? Maria?" I heard Sherlock shout.

John and I looked at Sherlock's bedroom door. I got up and rushed to the door. I flinched when I saw him fall the ground. That's must have hurt.

"You okay?" John asked as I stepped into the room.

"How did I get here?" Sherlock asked looking at us.

"Well, I don't suppose you remember much. You weren't making a lot of sense. Oh, I should warn you, I think Lestrade filmed you on his phone." John told him.

"He did." I said.

"Where is she?" Sherlock said and I frowned.

"Where is who?" John asked as Sherlock walked around his room.

"The woman. That woman." Sherlock said and I took a step towards him.

"What woman, Sherlock?" I asked him.

"The evil one. The woman woman." he said.

"Irene Adler?" I asked him.

"She got away. No one saw her." John told him.

"Why don't you sit down, Sherlock. You might hurt yourself." I told him as he walked over to his window.

"She wasn't here, Sherlock." John told him and he fell to the floor once again.

Sherlock crawled to his bed.

"No, no, no, no. Back to bed." John said picking Sherlock up and placing him in his bed.

"You'll be fine in the morning. Just sleep." John told him as he placed Sherlock's cover over him.

"Of course I'll be fine. I am fine." Sherlock said, "I'm absolutely fine."

"Yes, you're great. Now I'll be next door if you need me." John said walking over to the door.

"Why would I need you for?" Sherlock asked in a slur.

"No reason at all." John said and walked out of the room.

"If you need anything, Sherlock. I'm sleeping on the couch tonight. Just shout." I told him placing a kiss on his cheek before leaving his room.

The next day Sherlock was up and wide awake.

"I see you're up." I said stretching as I sat up from the couch.

"Yes, and you didn't need to sleep on the couch." Sherlock told me.

"I know, but I wanted to make sure you okay." I told him as I grabbed my phone to see that I had a text.

Wish you were here. I miss seeing your smiling face.

JM

I let out a sigh and sat my phone down on the table. Why does he have to send me those types of texts? We aren't together and won't be. I don't have those feelings for him anymore.

"You okay?" Sherlock asked as I rubbed my face.

"Yeah, it's just been a rough night." I told him and let out a yawn.

"Nightmare?" he asked and I nodded my head.

"Yeah." I told him and stood up, "Well I'm going to go shower."

I stopped and looked at him.

"Do not sneak in on me." I told him pointedly and walked off.

"I didn't mean that!" he shouted as I walked into the bathroom.

After taking the much needed shower, I stepped out and dried off. I let out a sigh seeing that I forgot to get some clean clothes. I could probably dash it to my room with a towel. I'm sure no one would be in the living room.

I grabbed my towel and wrapped tightly around me before leaving the bathroom quickly. As I reached the living room, I froze seeing that John, Sherlock and Mycroft was standing there.

"-Sex worker." Mycroft said, "Good morning, Maria."

My cheeks turned red when all three sets of eyes turned to me.

"Oh!" John said and looked away.

"Where are your clothes?" Sherlock asked me.

"I-I forgot them i-in my room. Excuse me." I said quickly running up to my room.

I slammed my door shut and fell onto my bed. I screamed into my pillow, before sitting up. I'm such a forgetful idiot. How could I forget my clothes!? I let out a sigh and got dressed. I brushed my hair, after drying it and left my room.

As I walked into the living I heard a moan coming from somewhere. Did John have a girl over?

"What was that?" I asked walking into the room.

"Sherlock's phone. He got a text." John said.

"Why is that your text alert?" I asked him.

"A joke apparently." John said.

"Would you turn that phone down a bit? At my time of life, it's..." Mrs. Hudson said walking out of the kitchen.

I didn't even know she was up here.

"So what did Mycroft wanted?" I asked them sitting down at the table.

"Just going over about yesterday." Sherlock said as he read the paper and I nodded my head as Mrs. Hudson laid a plate of eggs, toast with jam and sausage in front of me.

I felt my phone vibrate and I pulled it out.

Why aren't you replying to my text?

JM

I let out a sigh and began to type.

Sorry, I was busy. Sherlock's making me run a few errands for him. You have no idea how many cases he working.

MW

I set my phone down. I know it was bad to lie, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings. He was my friend after all, and he helped my father out around the house for free. So it's the least I could do and not be mean towards him.

"I'll leave you to your deductions." Sherlock said raising his newspaper up covering his face as I re-entered their conversation.

"I'm not stupid, you know." John said and I looked at him wondering what I just missed.

"Where do you get that idea?" Sherlock asked him as I took a bite of my sausage.

"Talk later." Mycroft said entering the room.

I thought he had left? Oh, well.

"What else does she have? Irene Adler." Sherlock asked his brother, "The Americans wouldn't be interested in her for a couple of compromising photographs. There's more. Much more."

I chewed on my toast as I watched Sherlock raised up from his seat. It was like watching a TV show and the plot began to thicken. I was interested what other things that woman was into. Unless it had to do with her dominix thing. I want to steer clear of that.

"Something big is coming, isn't it?" Sherlock asked him.

Big? I hope it's not bad.

"Irene Adler is no longer any concern of yours. From now on you will stay out of this." Mycroft told him.

"Oh, will I?" Sherlock asked him.

"Yes, Sherlock." Mycroft told him, "You will."

"I think you should listen to your brother, Sherlock. That woman is nothing, but trouble." I told him and bit into my toast.

What was so great about that woman, that made Sherlock want to find out more about her? She was a no good thief and tramp.

"Now, if you excuse me I have a long and arduous apology to make to a very old friend." Mycroft announced.

"Do give her my love." Sherlock said as he picked up his violin.

Mycroft left without a word as Sherlock began to play his violin. I couldn't help, but chuckle at his choice of song. I had to admit he was good at playing the violin.


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN Sherlock, just my OC(S)!**

* * *

**I like to thank everyone for their suggestions on what present Sherlock should receive!**

* * *

Time went by quickly, and by the time I had noticed, Christmas right around the corner. We haven't heard anything from Jim or Irene since meeting them. It seemed Sherlock was actually staying out of Irene's case. It surprised me that he listened to Mycroft.

As time went by James have been texting me everyday. I ignored some of them and replied to a few. I had to lie a couple of times why I had ignored them. It was easy to say that I was busy at the time with a case or running errands for Sherlock.

"So what are you getting me for Christmas?" John asked me as we ate breakfast one morning.

Christmas was two days away, and I have forgotten to buy gifts. Well I guess I should go shopping today. There was nothing going on.

"It's a surprise." I told him and stuffed the toast I was eating into my mouth, "I best be off. I have some things to do."

"I'll go with you." Sherlock said and I stopped looking at him with curious and cautious stare.

He was up to something. Most likely dealing with a case.

"Why?" I asked him.

"I need to get out of the flat. Get some fresh air." he said folding the news paper he read.

Yep, it has something to do with a case.

"Sorry, but I have to go alone." I told him walking over to my coat.

"Why?" he asked me.

"I have a doctor appointment. A private one!" I told him putting my coat on.

"No you don't." he said and I glared at him a bit, "If you did, you would've cleaned up better."

I let out a sigh. He wasn't going to give up and knowing Sherlock, he would follow no matter what.

"Fine, you can come with me. I don't see why though." I told him grabbing my scarf and wrapping it around my neck.

With a victory smirk Sherlock stood up and walked over to the door, grabbing his own coat and scarf.

"Let's go." Sherlock said walking through the door.

"Be back later John." I said before walking through the door following Sherlock down the stairs.

We got into a taxi, and I told the drive the street that I was wanting to get off of.

"Christmas shopping?" Sherlock asked and I looked up at him nodding my head.

"Yeah, I forgot to buy some." I told him.

"You don't need to get me anything." he said and I nodded my head.

I was going to buy him a gift, even though he doesn't want one. Now all that I needed to do was think of a gift that I could get him. Maybe a new scarf? No he had to many. What about a tie? Nah, he many of those too. I wanted to get him something special. Something that he didn't have.

I know what I'm getting John, Mrs. Hudson, and Uncle Greg. They were easy, but Sherlock. It was hard, especially when he was right next to me.

"So did you get gifts for anyone?" I asked him.

"No." he said and I frowned looking out the window.

"Oh," was all I said as I got this weird feeling in my gut.

It's not like I expected Sherlock to get me anything. He probably didn't even believe in it or cared for it. He seemed like that kind of guy.

Once reaching the shopping center, Sherlock and I stood at the door looking at the large crowd of people walking around.

"I hate shopping during this season." I muttered before making my way through the crowd with Sherlock following, "Me and my Mum would always try doing our shopping, a month before. But I forgot all about buying gifts. She's usually the one to remind me."

"Mm, what gift are you getting John?" Sherlock asked all of a sudden.

"A watch. I noticed the one he wears is about to break." I told him.

"Yes, he was complaining about his old watch the other morning." Sherlock said as I stopped in front of a display case with watches.

I looked at them for a moment, before deciding on getting black leather one. After paying for the item, Sherlock and I went off to another store that sold china and other glass items.

"What are we doing here?" Sherlock asked as we walked down an isle.

"You should know. You're the detective." I told him as I stopped looking at a tea set.

"Tea set? Hm, you're going to buy Mrs. Hudson a tea set." he said and I nodded my head as I picked it up.

"Yes, I am. She needs a new one, after someone used her's to hold eyes in." I said giving him a look.

"I was trying to see how long it would take for someone to notice the stench. Which took you three days to notice." he said and shot him a small glare.

"And it nearly gave me a heart attack. Why would you even do that? You ruined her tea set!" I told him as we walked to check out counter.

"It was in the name of science, my dear." he said and I blushed turning to the cashier handing him the money.

"Well science could had chosen a different item, like your skull." I said as we walked into another store.

I bought Uncle Greg a Christmas jumper, since it was a yearly thing that my Mum did to annoy him. I also bought him a set of tie clips. One more present to go.

We stopped at the food court after an hour of searching the mall. Sherlock asked what I was needing to buy, and I lied telling him I needed to get a gift for my Dad. Surprisingly he believed me. I thought he could tell when someone was lying. I guess not today!

"Hungry?" Sherlock asked and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I didn't really finished my breakfast this morning." I told him as I set my bags onto a table.

I left the table and Sherlock, who said he wasn't hungry to get some food. Once getting some food I returned to where Sherlock and the Christmas presents were at. I sat down and began to eat as Sherlock glanced around with a bored look on his face.

"Do you like Christmas?" I asked him.

"Not really." he said and I nodded my head.

"I used to love Christmas, but now it seems like any other day, just with presents and Uncle Greg getting drunk on eggnog." I told him frowning a bit as I thought of my mother.

It was my first Christmas without her. It just didn't feel right having Christmas without her, but that's what she would had wanted me to do. Go on as if she was still alive and be happy.

"You miss her don't you?" Sherlock asked and I nodded my head.

"Yeah," I told him frowning.

"I need some new beakers." Sherlock said all of a sudden and I gave him a confused look, "I need to buy some. I won't take long."

Sherlock stood up and walked away quickly. I shook my head.

"What a weird man." I muttered and ate my food.

When I was done eating Sherlock still hadn't returned. So I decided that I'd take that time to go look for Sherlock's present.

I walked to a shop and looked around in it for a moment. I found nothing and let out a sigh. I walked to another store and still found nothing. After an hour of searching I let out a sigh and sat down. How hard was it to find Sherlock a gift?

I stood up after a moment and walked until I saw this store that sold many items.

"Hello." the cashier greeted as I walked in.

"Hello." I said and walked around looking at the items.

I stopped at a shelf that had a few trinkets on it. I saw a necklace that my mum would had loved. I picked it up for a second, before placing it back.

"Hello." I heard the cashier said as another shopper entered the shop.

I didn't turn to see who it was as I walked around the shop. I stopped at a display case when I saw some knitting items. I know I could knit Sherlock a scarf! But will I have enough time to make it? I have two days before Christmas. It'll take night and day to make, but I should be able to.

I quickly picked up two balls of yarn and some needles. I turned and let out a surprised shriek seeing Sherlock standing behind me.

"Did I scare you?" he asked and I nodded my had throwing him a small glare when he smirked, "What do you need those for?"

"I am going to make my father some gloves." I lied.

"I see. Christmas is in two days. Will you be done by then?" he asked me.

"Maybe, we will just have to wait and see." I told him smiling a bit, "Now lets go. We're wasting perfect time, Sherlock."

I walked over to the cashier and paid for my items. We left the shopping center and went back to the flat. Once back, I wrapped the presents in silver and gold wrapping paper. I hid them under my bed so John wouldn't be able to find them.

With the presents wrapped and hidden, I got to knitting Sherlock's scarf. Day and night I stayed in my room working on that scarf. I took a few breaks for food, bathroom and a nap or two. And on Christmas day I was done with it.

I smiled holding up the dark blue scarf with S.H stitched on both ends in a pastel yellow. Feeling satisfied and proud of my work I wrapped Sherlock's new scarf with the gold and silver paper, before walking down to the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" I said walking into the kitchen to see Sherlock, John and even Mrs Hudson.

"Merry Christmas, Maria." Mrs. Hudson said with a kind smile on her face, "You've been in up in your room so much lately. Are you feeling well?"

"Yes, I've just been busy making my father some gloves. I wanted to get done by today." I told her.

"I see, well here's your breakfast." she said placing a plate of food in front of me.

"Thank you, Mrs. Hudson." I told her and began to eat my food.

"So present?" John asked and I chuckled.

"Sorry, but you'll have to wait for tonight at the party John." I told him and took a sip of my orange juice, "Oh, I got something for you too Mrs. Hudson."

"You shouldn't have." she said blushing a bit.

"You deserve a gift, Mrs. Hudson. You helped clean this place and feed us." I told her.

"You didn't get Sherlock a gift?" John asked and I shook my head.

"Nope." I told him, "Because he didn't want me to get him one."

I didn't get him a gift, I made him one and he never said that I shouldn't make one.


End file.
